Bitcoin Tops $85K for First Time Since January on Short Squeeze

Bitcoin surged to its highest level since January on Monday, briefly topping $85,000 as a powerful short squeeze and renewed institutional buying propelled the cryptocurrency through a key technical resistance zone. The rally marked a significant recovery from a selloff earlier in the month that had pushed prices toward $75,000. The advance was fueled by a massive wave of forced liquidations in the derivatives market. Data from CoinGlass showed more than $750 million in crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, with short positions accounting for $648.3 million of that total. Bitcoin shorts represented $360.7 million of the liquidations, including a single $11.3 million position on Binance's BTCUSDT market. The squeeze accelerated as Bitcoin broke above the $83,000 to $86,000 resistance zone that had previously capped price action. The move was supported by renewed inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The funds recorded $433 million in net inflows on September 18, helping them finish the week with a modest $6.2 million net inflow after substantial withdrawals earlier in the week.