- HBAR Open Interest rose to a six-month high as the market heated up
- Long liquidations exploded after HBAR returned to its consolidation zone
Hedera’s native cryptocurrency HBAR just registered the biggest increase in Open Interest since May. Interestingly, the price action suggested that the increase was mainly driven by short sellers.
HBAR Futures Open Interest rose to 61.11 million on November 13, after a strong increase since November 5. This was the highest level the cryptocurrency’s Open Interest rose to since May 21. Binance led the increase in Open Interest on exchanges with almost $20 million.
Source: Coinglass
A look at HBAR’s price action revealed that the Open Interest build-up was largely bullish initially. However, it shifted somewhere along the way, with the cryptocurrency already in a bearish trend by the time Open Interest reached its peak.
A failed HBAR rally?
HBAR got off to a bullish start earlier this month, as did most of the top cryptocurrencies. It rose 83.73% from November 5 to November 12, peaking at $0.077. However, demand appears to have been crushed shortly afterwards, judging by the massive pullback that appeared to have been a bull trap.
Source: TradingView
HBAR retreated as much as 26% from Tuesday’s high to Wednesday’s low. The pullback was notable because it closed within the short-term resistance range. This is an indication that the cryptocurrency was not yet ready for a major bullish recovery.
Here it is worth noting that HBAR was also overbought at the time of the pullback. The pullback highlighted how a rise in bullish expectations in hopes of a breakout from the consolidation zone resulted in a bull trap.
In fact, liquidation data suggests that a short squeeze may have occurred first, with approximately $539,000 worth of shorts liquidated on November 12. However, the pullback from this week’s peak led to more than $886,000 in extended liquidations.
Source: Coinglass
HBAR’s liquidations on November 12 were the highest we’ve seen in the last six months. Liquidations also spilled over into November 13, with more than $620,000 worth of longs liquidated.
Hence the question: does HBAR still have upside potential? Well, the latest outcome may have led to leveraged positions being liquidated, while some buyers may have been discouraged. However, the cryptocurrency may still be attractive given the significant discount.
HBAR’s press time price was trading at a 66% discount to its 2024 high. The cryptocurrency had a strong bullish run in the first half of the year, peaking in April. All told, the performance confirmed that investors are still interested in the cryptocurrency.
