Bitcoin is still short of all-time highs after its incredible February gains, but bulls have already set a new record.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Mar. 1, Checkmate, the pseudonymous lead on-chain analyst at Glassnode, revealed a “remarkable” BTC price event.

BTC price supplies “unreal” monthly candle

The Feb. 29 monthly close sealed a clear win for Bitcoin bulls.

At 43.55%, per data from CoinGlass, February has delivered the biggest gains for BTC/USD since December 2020.

In absolute terms, however, the picture is even more encouraging, Checkmate noted.

Referring to monthly performance alongside Glassnode data, he showed that February resulted in a monthly candle nearly $20,000 high.

“Unreal...Feb 2024 printed a $19.84k Bitcoin candle, the largest monthly USD increase in history,” he wrote in accompanying comments.

“This added $390B to the Bitcoin market cap... Up a remarkable 47%.”

For context, $20,000 formed an all-time high BTC price level in itself — one that, after appearing in December 2017, remained unbeaten for three years. It took Bitcoin most of a decade to get there.

BTC price “plunge protection” centers on $52,000

As Cointelegraph reported, the monthly close had been a source of angst among market participants.

Related: Despite 23% gains, Bitcoin options traders still not bullish

Monthly candles can spark volatility as they expire — potentially a problem for Bitcoin in its current state, as order books lack substantial bid liquidity to act as support.

A snapshot of BTC/USDT order book liquidity on the largest global exchange, Binance, uploaded to X on Feb. 29 by trading resource Material Indicators shows $59,000 as the nearest potential safety net.

Continuing in his own analysis, Material Indicators co-founder Keith Alan additionally revealed major changes in order book composition at lower levels.

A raft of bids, which had previously appeared in the mid-$20,000 zone, as Cointelegraph reported, has been moved up to $52,000.

“In the last 24 hours we’ve seen the most significant change in the order book since January,” he summarized on X.

“A rip to $64k and a 49% Monthly candle wasn’t on anybody’s bingo card, neither was wick down to $58k or nearly $8B in BTCETF inflows that pushed price much further beyond $60k than most of us expected.”

Alan referred to a key event in the latter half of last month — the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, raking in record net inflows.

Bitcoin traded at $61,600 at the time of writing, with volatility staying manageable after the monthly close, per data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.