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Bitcoin has been trading sharply higher this weekend, underpinned by heightened activity in the futures market for digital currencies. The price of the biggest cryptocurrency was trading at $20,692 at 6:35 a.m. ET, according to data from TradingView. 

Elsewhere, Solana was trading up more than 30% over the last 24 hours, while ether was trading up 7.7%. The move upward triggered $449 million in short liquidations on Jan. 14 — the highest level in months, according to data provided by Coinglass. 

As noted by Crypto Quant’s Ki Young Jun, buyers entered the market early Saturday morning, purchasing ~$4 billion worth of bitcoin futures. Cryptocurrencies have been trading higher since new data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor indicated a cooldown in inflation.

The much-followed consumer price index declined in December on a monthly basis by 0.1%. Young Jun said that a pullback of a wide range of crypto market participants could be behind the extended gains. In the wake of bankruptcies including Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research and BlockFi, crypto brokerage firms and market makers have become less active.

Market-making firms can help dampen volatility during wild market swings. As recently noted by The Block, such market participants have pulled back — a fact that has resulted in a liquidity gap that could leave the market open to bouts of volatility.