Bitcoin climbed above $86,000 for the first time since January, briefly reaching $87,363 and triggering liquidations exceeding $1 billion in short positions. At press time, the cryptocurrency was trading at $85,824.
The breakout cleared a resistance zone that had accumulated short positions over several months. Traders had repeatedly failed to push Bitcoin through the $82,000–$86,000 range, encouraging them to build leveraged short bets at these levels.
“The rally reached the largest short-liquidation zone built over the past year,” said Joao Wedson, Chief Executive of Alphractal, a trading analysis firm.
Positioning Shifts Toward $90,000
The liquidation cascade has reoriented trader focus toward $90,000 as the next key resistance. A 5% gain from the press-time price would reach that level. Deribit, an options exchange, reported $2.7 billion in Bitcoin open interest at the $90,000 strike, with additional significant exposure at $95,000 and $100,000 strikes totaling $7.7 billion across the three levels.
Alphractal’s analysis shows longs now represent 71% of remaining unliquidated positions, while shorts account for 29%. This positioning remains below speculative extremes seen near Bitcoin’s previous peak in October 2025.
On-Chain Signals Turning Bullish
Glassnode, an on-chain analytics platform, reported that Bitcoin reclaimed all major long-term moving averages after spending approximately 300 days below them. The cryptocurrency is now trading above its True Market Mean and short-term holder cost basis, levels Glassnode uses to distinguish bullish from weaker market structures.
Long leverage is gradually returning in the options market, according to Glassnode, with open-interest put-call ratios moving higher. Perpetual-futures funding remains below neutral, suggesting the market has not yet reached extreme bullish positioning.
Broader Market Sentiment
Activity in the broader cryptocurrency market has accelerated. More than 1 million BTC moved in the past week, worth over $92 billion, marking the highest transaction volume in four years. Aggregate crypto open interest rose 7.6% to $156 billion, while trading volume increased 39%.
Santiment, a blockchain analysis firm, reported that bullish discussion around Bitcoin and crypto has reached its strongest level since 2024. The Fear and Greed Index is approaching extreme greed following the breakout.
An earlier washout of leveraged longs occurred during Bitcoin’s recent decline, preceding the current short liquidation. This pattern suggests the market has cycled through both bullish and bearish extremes before the current rally.
