What happened?
Bitcoin went through a sharp two-day rally accompanied by a wave of forced liquidations of short positions. A short squeeze is a situation where a rising price forces traders who bet on a decline to rush in and buy to close their losing positions, which pushes the price even higher.
According to Kryptonovinky.sk, bitcoin rose roughly 8 percent over 24 hours and traded around $74,700. During the day it climbed as high as $75,500, while the daily low was $68,900. The daily range thus exceeded $6,500.
It is worth flagging the difference between the sources. While Kryptonovinky.sk talks about breaking through the $75,000 mark, The Block describes a rise above $72,000 and Cointelegraph states that the price approached $72,000. These differences most likely reflect different moments of measurement during a volatile move, but the exact timeline of the individual values cannot be reconciled unambiguously from the sources.
How large were the liquidations?
Cointelegraph reports that total liquidations of short positions across the crypto market topped $3.1 billion during the second day of the rally. That ranks the move among the most significant squeeze episodes in history, something other sources mention as well.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Daily BTC gain | +8% | Kryptonovinky.sk |
| Daily BTC high | $75,500 | Kryptonovinky.sk |
| Daily BTC low | $68,900 | Kryptonovinky.sk |
| Short liquidations | over $3.1 billion | Cointelegraph |
Is it just a short squeeze, or real demand?
This is where opinions diverge, and it is only fair to separate them. Analysts cited by The Block argue that the move is also being underpinned by demand on the spot market and through ETFs, meaning the rally is not driven solely by short covering. At the same time, they stress that bitcoin needs to hold its price above $70,000 to show that the rally can survive the squeeze itself.
For the XRP token, which posted its best week since the post-election pump in 2024, Decrypt points to opposite signals. Based on its reading of ETF flow and futures data, part of the move may be running on borrowed momentum, that is, on momentum that may not last.
In short: whether the rally is driven by lasting demand or mainly by the mechanics of liquidations cannot yet be concluded with certainty. This is a legitimate dispute between the sources, not a settled fact.
How did the other tokens fare?
Ethereum also strengthened according to Kryptonovinky.sk (the source summary does not give an exact value). XRP recorded its steepest daily and weekly gains in months, according to Decrypt, and its best week since the post-election rally in 2024.
What to watch out for with this type of move
This is not trading advice, but an overview of what usually decides whether the gains hold in squeeze episodes:
- Holding a key level. The Block explicitly mentions the $70,000 mark as a test of whether the rally survives the squeeze.
- ETF and spot flows. These are precisely what, according to analysts, distinguish organic demand from a purely technical move.
- Futures data. Decrypt suggests futures signals may point to fading momentum.
Charliedesk is marking this move so that we can later verify in hindsight whether it was more lasting demand or mainly the effect of liquidations. We will check the score based on how the price performs in the coming weeks.