Bitcoin's price jump to $63,700 has inflicted $504 million in losses on short sellers over 24 hours, the highest single-day total since late April, according to CoinGlass. By contrast, long traders lost only $151 million during the same period.
Total crypto liquidations hit roughly $655 million, affecting over 104,000 traders. Bitcoin positions accounted for $315 million, while ether positions contributed $201 million. The largest single forced closure was a $12.3 million bitcoin futures position on OKX. A liquidation occurs when an exchange automatically closes a leveraged position that has moved too far against the trader.
The Short Squeeze After Last Week's Rout
The squeeze caps a volatile period. Bitcoin tumbled nearly 14% last week and briefly traded below $60,000, pressured by Strategy's first bitcoin sale since 2022, a selloff in AI stocks, and a record streak of outflows from spot bitcoin ETFs. Many traders had piled into short positions near the lows, only to be caught off guard when bitcoin rebounded to nearly $63,800 on Sunday.
Geopolitical Jitters and Ongoing Volatility
The bounce lost steam on Monday. Renewed strikes between Iran and Israel pushed oil up more than 3% and sent Asian stocks sharply lower, with South Korea's KOSPI falling almost 7%. President Donald Trump urged Israel not to retaliate further. As of Monday morning, bitcoin had slipped back to around $62,900, still well above last week's floor.
According to CoinDesk data, bitcoin hit as high as $63,700 early Monday. Volatility is expected to remain elevated ahead of U.S. inflation readings and a wave of major IPOs, including SpaceX.