First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Soars Past $30K

Bitcoin (BTC) slipped under the $30,000 level in early European hours on Wednesday, with overall market capitalization falling 1.2% in the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH) traded just over $1,860, down 3%, leading the drop among major tokens. Ether dipped ahead of the Ethereum network’s major upgrade taking place later today at 22:27 UTC (6:27 p.m. ET). Exchanges liquidated just over $30 million worth of leveraged futures bets during Wednesday’s price drop, of which, more than 90% were longs or bullish bets. In addition to the Ethereum network upgrade, traders were likely also taking profits ahead of the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report for March, which is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.