Bitcoin 

BTC

$16,815

 stayed higher after a $17,000 liquidity grab on Dec. 9 as traders targeted further upside.

Bitcoin attempts new monthly high

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD cooling volatility once more after hitting $17,300 on Bitstamp.

The pair had begun by taking liquidity at the Dec. 8 Wall Street open, this snowballing to see it challenge one-month highs from Dec. 5.

For those already betting on upward continuation, the move came as little surprise, with the coast still clear to add to the gains.

“The move to 18-19k $BTC continues,” popular trader Credible Crypto summarized.

A previous tweet from Dec. 7 explained the rationale, with invalidation set at $16,000 support.

“Lows cleaned up and as if on cue Binance apes showing up to support the mid 16k’s,” part of accompanying comments read:

“Maybe one more push into 16.4-16.5k and then expecting a reversal back up and continuation to 18-19k targets.”

Fellow trader Cheds, meanwhile, eyed potential continuation of volatility, with BTC/USD tagging its upper Bollinger Band on 4-hour timeframes.

At the time of writing, 4-hour candles remained near the upper band, with both still expanding in a classic prelude to increased volatility.

“Expecting continuation for Bitcoin as long as we stay above $17K,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, added, likening the overnight move to the breakout from the end of November.

Liquidations fuel BTC price run-up

Further analysis of overnight BTC price action highlighted increased liquidations of short positions.

Related: Bitcoin 2022 bear market ‘usual’ despite key trend line loss — Analyst

In a sign of the extent to which market participants assumed further downside would enter, short liquidations on BTC totaled $7 million in a single hour on Dec. 8, data from Coinglass shows. Altcoin short liquidations added another $11 million to the tally.

“Liquidations have been relatively small since the early November crash but short liquidations helped fuel that recent move,” analytics resource On-Chain College confirmed.

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