Bitcoin traded at $84,984, up 4.7% since midnight UTC, breaking above the September 4 high of $82,284 and reaching $85,000. The rally was powered by a short squeeze that forced $647.9 million of short positions to liquidate in the past 24 hours, including $159.9 million in the last hour, according to Coinglass data.
Despite the forced closures, total futures open interest rose 7.59% to $156 billion, indicating that traders are re‑establishing positions rather than exiting the market. 24‑hour trading volume jumped 39% to $224 billion, reinforcing the view of renewed leverage demand.
Derivatives data showed the long‑short taker ratio in crypto futures edging to 53% in favor of bulls, the first such tilt in weeks. Bitcoin’s futures open interest surpassed 700,000 BTC for the first time in months, though still below historic peaks. On Binance, the whale long/short ratio hovered around 1.0, while the overall whale derivatives position ratio stayed above 2.0, suggesting large accounts hold significant leveraged long exposure.
Funding rates on perpetual contracts spiked to nearly 60% annualized, a level that signals crowded long positions and potential volatility. Positive cumulative volume delta readings for Bitcoin and Ether confirmed aggressive buying pressure, while implied volatility indices for both assets showed only modest upticks.
The broader crypto market saw mixed moves. Sui rose 12.3% to $1.01, AI‑related tokens such as FET and TAO posted gains, and DeFi token Aave climbed 7%. Dogecoin advanced 10.2% to $0.094, and Avalanche gained 14.1% to $11.22. The CoinDesk 100 index rose 3.0% as 95 of its constituents posted gains.
Macro indicators were steady: Brent crude held at $101.97, gold slipped 0.65% to $4,350, and silver fell 0.32% to $66.24.
