Bitcoin (BTC) jumped roughly 5% on Monday, climbing from weekend lows near $64,168 to briefly touch $70,000 before settling around $69,000. The move followed a weekend dip after the U.S. began strikes against Iran.
Analyst flags short-covering as driver
“This is clearly a flushing of shorts due to the confluence of the Iranian attacks causing a rebalancing across the whole capital stack,” said Mark Connors, chief investment officer at Risk Dimensions. He noted that spot bitcoin ETF outflows slowed or reversed, giving BTC a tailwind. But he stressed the rally is not driven by fresh buying — traders who had bet on further declines are being forced to unwind their positions.
Leverage outpaces spot demand
Data from CoinGlass shows a $218 million cluster of liquidations would be triggered if price falls to the $65,250-$64,650 range, which was the base for Monday's rally. Open interest rose 6% over 24 hours while price increased only 3.8%, suggesting the move is backed by leverage rather than spot buying. Many traders took profits at the psychological $70,000 resistance level.
Sustained breakout uncertain
Connors warned this is not a signal of a march back to $100,000 or a break through the key $75,000 resistance. “Without sustained spot demand, the bounce could stall as quickly as it began,” he said. The broader downtrend remains intact until fresh capital flows in.