Volatility over the past 24 hours has caused a spike in liquidations on centralized exchanges as ether rallied over 22%. 

The rally comes amid renewed optimism that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission might greenlight spot ether ETFs later this week. The first round of spot ether ETF deadlines is fast approaching, with VanEck's on May 23 and Ark Invest/21Shares' on May 24.

Surge in short liquidations

There have been over $350 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours across various centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, according to CoinGlass data. Of these liquidations, the vast majority, around $282 million, were short positions.

Ether positions took the brunt of the damage, with over $121 million in liquidations during the past 24 hours, almost $98 million of …