The bears have misjudged the market once again. Bitcoin, with the symbol BTC, reached a high of $80,594 early on Monday, its highest level since January 31, before retreating to trade around $79,851 at the time of writing. This move led to $370 million in total cryptocurrency liquidations over the past 24 hours, impacting 97,235 traders, as per data from CoinGlass.

Of this total, $301.93 million were from short positions. Shorts were liquidated roughly four times as much as longs, indicating that bearish positioning dominated prior to the move, forcing them to unwind their positions at a loss as the rally took hold.

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 on reports of an Iran ceasefire. The pattern is starting to appear structural, with funding rates on bitcoin perpetuals pinned negative for most of April, meaning shorts have been paying longs to maintain their short positions, and 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 up 2.2% for the week, XRP gaining 2.1% to $1.42, BNB adding 1.9% to $630, and Solana rising 1.4% to $85.14.

Dogecoin remains a standout performer, up 3.5% for the day and 14.3% for the week to $0.1119, extending the breakout that began last week alongside the year-high open interest in DOGE futures. Net inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs reached $153.9 million last week, according to SoSoValue, with April pulling in $1.97 billion across these products, the highest monthly total since October 2025.

Conversely, ether ETFs saw $82.5 million in net outflows, ending a three-week streak of inflows. Analysts at FxPro noted in a statement that for bitcoin to confirm its breakout, it needs to consolidate above $85,000. The rising price and the downward-sloping 200-day moving average are converging with an important long-term trend line at $83,600. While consolidation above this level could encourage traders further, consolidation above $85,000 is preferred.