BTC rally triggers $662M short liquidations

TLDR

Bitcoin's latest rally forced a wave of leveraged bears to exit, wiping out hundreds of millions of dollars in short positions and amplifying the move up.

1. Multiple data providers report roughly $650700 million of Bitcoin shorts and about $11.2 billion of total crypto shorts liquidated over 24 hours as BTC spiked above 70,000.
2. The squeeze was driven by crowded bearish positioning, positive funding, and macro catalysts such as U.S. Treasury bond buybacks and pro?crypto political signals, which flipped sentiment from fear to greed.
3. The rally leans heavily on forced buying, so sustainability depends on fresh spot demand, funding and open interest staying healthy, and BTC holding key support around the high 60,000s.

Deep Dive

1. What Actually Happened

As Bitcoin (BTC) broke out of a multi?week range and pushed over 70,000, exchanges auto?closed many leveraged short positions when collateral could not cover losses. That process is a short liquidation.

One report notes that total crypto short liquidations reached about $1.06 billion in 24 hours, with BTC alone contributing around $789.68 million of losses as it rallied about 8 percent to near 75,000. This is described as one of the largest short wipeouts since 2021 and came on top of a previous day where short liquidations exceeded $2.7 billion across the market.

Different analytics platforms and coverage universes yield slightly different figures, which is why numbers like $662 million, $650 million, and $790 million can all appear for essentially the same event.

2. Why The Short Squeeze Hit So Hard

For several weeks before the move, BTC traded in a tight range in the low to mid 60,000s, encouraging traders to lean short with leverage. When BTC pushed through resistance in the mid 60,000s, those shorts were trapped.

Analysts highlight that in some windows more than $1 billion in BTC shorts were liquidated in about an hour as price jumped several thousand dollars, with around 92 percent of total liquidations coming from shorts rather than longs. At the same time, crypto total market cap rose about 7.6 percent over 24 hours and derivatives open interest in perpetuals increased only modestly, which suggests a lot of leverage was flushed rather than added.

Macro helped flip the switch. U.S. Treasury plans to expand long?dated bond buybacks and high?profile pro?crypto comments from U.S. officials improved liquidity expectations and risk appetite, giving BTC a fundamental excuse to break out.

3. How Sustainable This Rally Is

Because a short squeeze is forced buying, its effect fades once the biggest short clusters are cleared. That is why some analysts warn that the market now needs genuine spot and ETF demand to sustain prices near or above the new range.

On the derivatives side, perpetual open interest is up only a few percent over 24 hours, while funding rates and the Fear & Greed Index have moved into clear bullish territory. That combination points to a market that is bullish but not yet wildly over?levered. Technically, traders are watching support around 67,00069,000 and resistance in the low to mid 70,000s.

Conclusion

BTCs rally has been turbocharged by one of the largest short liquidation waves in recent memory, fueled by macro tailwinds and crowded bearish positioning. That reset reduces downside leverage risk for now, but it also means a meaningful chunk of recent demand was forced rather than voluntary. The next phase hinges on whether real buyers step in at these higher prices and whether key support in the high 60,000s holds through upcoming macro and policy headlines.