The bears have been proven wrong once again. Bitcoin, with a value of $79,751.17, momentarily reached $80,594 early on Monday, marking its highest point since January 31, before retreating to trade around $79,851 at the time of writing. This move led to a total of $370 million in crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours, impacting 97,235 traders, as per CoinGlass data.

Of this total, $301.93 million stemmed from short positions. Shorts were liquidated roughly four times as much as longs, indicating dominant bearish positioning prior to the move, which forced them to unwind their positions at a loss as the rally gained momentum. 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 of its kind in two weeks, following a similar setup on April 18 that wiped out $593 million in shorts as bitcoin surpassed $77,000. The pattern appears to be structural, with funding rates on bitcoin perpetuals remaining 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 a surge, 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 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, with April seeing $1.97 billion in total, the highest monthly total since October 2025. In contrast, ether ETFs experienced $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. The rising price and downward-sloping 200-day moving average are converging with an important long-term trend line at $83,600.

Consolidation above this level could encourage traders further, but consolidation above $85,000 is preferred.