Exchange Ranking
Top Exchanges
24h Volume Ranking
Popularity Ranking
Exchange BTC Balance
Proof of Reserves
Decentralized Exchanges
Funding Rate
Funding Heatmap
Liquidation Data
Max Pain
Long/Short Ratio
Whale L/S Ratio
Binance/Okex/Huobi L/S
Bitfinex Margin L/S
ETF Tracker
Solana ETF
XRP ETF
Hong Kong ETF
Bitcoin Treasuries
Crypto Reversal
Ethereum Reserves
HyperLiquid Wallet Analysis
Hyperliquid Whale Watch
Large Transactions
On-chain Movement
Bitcoin ROI
Stablecoin Market Cap
Options Analysis
News
Articles
Economic Calendar
Features
Wallet
Contract Calculator
Security
Collections
Watchlist
Following
BTC 
ETH Bitcoin (BTC) has been trapped in the $61,500 to $65,000 range for six consecutive weeks. Volatility has fallen to multi-year lows, and traders generally believe this range will persist.
On August 19, the whole situation collapsed within an hour, with $1.74 billion in short positions disappearing before most markets could react.
According to data, the amount of short liquidation of cryptocurrency reached US$1.74 billion within 24 hours, making August 19, 2026 the second largest short liquidation event on record, second only to the October 10, 2025 crash. Short positions account for approximately 92% of all liquidations. Traders who had shorted Bitcoin for six consecutive weeks were forced to buy back positions at a loss, and this forced buying pushed prices higher, triggering more liquidations and prices rising further.
On August 20, Bitcoin surged 10% in 24 hours, breaking the $72,000 mark.
Triggers
The first catalyst came from Washington. The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it will at least double the size of its long-term bond repurchase operations, increasing the ceiling for each operation from $2 billion to $4 billion. The 30-year Treasury yield, which had surged to 5.337%(its highest since 2007), fell sharply. Cheaper long-term funds favor assets that do not generate returns, and Bitcoin becomes the first beneficiary.
The second catalyst arrived a few hours later. President Trump met at the White House with cryptocurrency executives from Coinbase, Payward and Blockchain.com. He raised the possibility of the United States buying "significant" quantities of bitcoin and called on Congress to pass the Clarification Act before the September 15 deadline.
Mechanism of short squeezing
Short squeezing occurs when traders betting on falling prices are forced to buy back positions due to rising prices. This forced buying further drives prices higher, triggering more buying, creating a self-reinforcing cycle. When Bitcoin broke through $72,000, it hit the level of intensive short liquidations accumulated during the six-week consolidation period. Once this bottom is broken, being forced to buy becomes a self-reinforcing process.
According to data from the online analytics platform, short positions in cryptocurrency worth more than US$3 billion and long positions worth more than US$305 million were cleared in the past 24 hours. Bitcoin led the short squeeze with $1.67 billion and ether with $1 billion.
What happens next
The Fear and Greed Index jumped from 41 (fear) to 59 (greed) in one trading day. Bitcoin is currently testing its 200-day simple moving average (US$69,031), and neither the price nor the average have held steady since October 2025, when both were above US$100,000. Since the rally began, more than 44,300 bitcoins have been sent to exchanges, indicating that some holders are taking profits. The question currently facing the market is: Can new spot demand replace forced buying?
