Volatile trading on futures tracking the dogecoin (DOGE) and ApeCoin (APE) tokens resulted in millions of dollars in losses to liquidations, data from tracking tools shows.
Losses on DOGE futures exceeded $22.65 million in the past 24 hours while losses on APE futures exceeded $11.77 million. The figures were higher than on other days, the data show.
Among the DOGE losses some 68.9% were from shorts, or traders betting against higher prices. Prices surged to as much as $0.17 from Monday’s $0.12 low, and are still 32% higher than Monday.
The price jump in DOGE seemed to arise mainly in the hours before the announcement of Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk's acquisition of social media giant Twitter (TWTR) in a $44 billion deal.
No direct link between the two events exists, but some market observers say Musk could use his influence to include DOGE as a payment method on Twitter. Tesla already accepts the meme coin as a payment option for its merchandise.
APE futures saw $7.9 million in losses from short trades, representing 67% of the total. APE traded at the $17 level in European afternoon hours on Monday, rising to nearly $20 in early Asian hours today. Prices have since dropped back to the $17.88 level.