Bitcoin (BTC) short sellers are probably crossing their fingers in hopes the asset won't return to $70,000 in the near term, with a huge amount of liquidations at risk if it does.

CoinGlass data shows a staggering $1.67 billion of short positions will be liquidated if Bitcoin returns to $70,000 — a price level it has been trading under since June 8, as per CoinGlass data.

“There is an insane amount ofBitcoin short liquidations piling up at the topside,” pseudonymous crypto trader Ash Crypto acknowledged on June 17 in an X post.

According to CoinMarketCap, a 7.46% increase from its current price of $65,136 would bring it to $70,000.

“Markets are incredibly bullish right now. Bitcoin and ETH Liquidations are stacked. Bounce imminent,” Discover Crypto CEO Joshua Jake wrote on June 18.

Bitcoin Open Interest (OI) — the total value of all outstanding or unsettled Bitcoin futures contracts across exchanges — has dropped 10.99% since reaching its all-time high on June 7, now sitting at $33.55 billion.

However, Bitcoin OI is 82% higher compared to the start of this year, on Jan. 1.

While falling open interest can point to a deteriorating trend, rising open interest implies growing market interest.

Earlier this month in the lead-up to June 7, Bitcoin’s OI surged over $2 billion in just three days, leading traders to believe it may trigger a sudden “whipsaw” effect on its price.

Liquidations needed before new ATH for Bitcoin

Crypto analyst and creator of onchain data resource Woobull, Willy Woo, suggests a major liquidation wipeout will better position Bitcoin to reach new all-time highs.

“We need a solid amount of liquidations still before we get the all clear for further bullish activity,” Willy Woo wrote on June 19.

Related: ‘Buy the dip?’ Bitcoin price drops to new 1-month lows of $64K

“I know it sucks, but BTC is not going to break all time highs until more pain and boredom plays out,” he added.

Willy Woo is not the only analyst to use the word “boring” to describe Bitcoin’s recent price action following the Bitcoin halving on April 20.

“Basically, it’s The Boring Zone before The Banana Zone,” Global Macro Investor (GMI) head of research Julien Bittel wrote on June 19.

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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.