Key Takeaways
- Nearly $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated in just 24 hours.
- It marked the largest short squeeze in the market since 2021.
- Bitcoin broke past $100,000 for the first time in months, fueled by upbeat trade news.
On Thursday, a sudden surge in crypto prices sent shockwaves through the market, triggering widespread liquidations.
After weeks of sideways movement, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) broke out sharply, leaving short sellers scrambling and pushing total liquidations to levels not seen in years.
With sentiment flipping quickly and macro headlines adding fuel, the latest move has reopened old questions: Is this a breakout or a blowoff?
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Biggest Short Squeeze Since 2021 Hits Crypto Market
Thursday’s short squeeze wiped out nearly $1 billion in leveraged positions as Bitcoin and Ethereum surged to multi-week highs.
Bitcoin briefly crossed the $100,000 mark for the first time since February, while Ethereum jumped past $2,100, breaking through a major resistance level.
The sudden rally caught short sellers flat-footed, triggering the largest liquidation event the market has seen since 2021.
According to Coinglass data , $964 million in crypto futures were liquidated over 24 hours, $834 million of that from short positions.
BTC Long/Short ratio chart. | Credit: CoinglassBitcoin alone accounted for $416 million in losses, including a single $11.97 million BTC/USDT liquidation on Binance.
The crypto market’s total value spiked to $3.3 trillion, its highest level since early March.
Bitcoin Breaks $100,000 as Trade Deal Fuels Rally
Bitcoin’s breakout above $100,000 came on the heels of a major U.S.-UK trade agreement, announced by President Donald Trump.
He framed the deal as a sign of more global partnerships to come—news that appeared to lift overall investor sentiment across risk assets.
At the time of writing, BTC was trading at around $102,000.
On-chain analytics firm Santiment noted that while the rally was partly driven by renewed optimism, retail FOMO and aggressive media coverage could inflate prices in the short term, setting up a possible correction later—something seen in prior bull runs.
Ethereum also posted its strongest performance in weeks, surging past $2,100 amid a wave of liquidations totaling $259 million in ETH shorts.
Despite lingering negativity following the Pectra upgrade and growing interest in meme coins, ETH managed to outperform the rest of the top 10 assets.
Santiment called the rebound “contrarian,” highlighting the market’s tendency to reverse once retail sentiment hits extreme lows.
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