The bears have misjudged the market once again. Bitcoin (BTC) briefly reached $80,594 on Monday, its highest point since January 31, before retreating to trade around $79,851.
This move led to $370 million in total crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours, impacting 97,235 traders, as reported by CoinGlass data. Of this total, $301.93 million was attributed to short positions. Shorts were liquidated roughly four times as much as longs, indicating dominant bearish positioning prior to the move, which forced them to close positions at a loss. Bitcoin accounted for $179 million of the liquidations, while ether traders contributed $95 million.
The largest single liquidation was an $11.77 million ETH/USDT short on Binance. This squeeze is the second in two weeks, following a similar setup on April 18 that wiped out $593 million in shorts as bitcoin surpassed $77,000. The pattern is starting to appear structural, with funding rates on bitcoin perpetuals remaining negative for most of April, resulting in shorts paying longs to maintain their positions. Each time the price increases, the same trade unwinds violently.
Other major cryptocurrencies also saw gains, with ether climbing 2.3% to $2,368 and XRP gaining 2.1% to $1.42. BNB added 1.9% to $630, and Solana rose 1.4% to $85.14.
Dogecoin remains a standout performer, up 3.5% on the day and 14.3% on the week to $0.1119, extending its breakout. Net inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs reached $153.9 million last week, with April pulling in $1.97 billion, the highest monthly total since October 2025. However, ether ETFs saw $82.5 million in net outflows, ending a three-week inflow streak.
According to FxPro analysts, bitcoin needs to consolidate above $85,000 to confirm the breakout, as the rising price and downward-sloping 200-day moving average converge with an important long-term trend line at $83,600.