Bitcoin rises 7.1% due to largest short squeeze ever on Binance

Bitcoin has recorded its best trading day since February 2026, with a price gain of 7.1%. The trigger was a mass liquidation of short positions: in total, more than $1.4 billion in shorts were liquidated in a short space of time. On Binance alone, this totalled $311 million, the largest short squeeze the platform has ever seen on Bitcoin futures. The price now stands at $71.800, up 11.6% in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin is available at OKX and Bybit.

In brief:

• Bitcoin rose 7.1% in one session, the strongest day since February 2026
• More than $1.4 billion in short positions were liquidated across the crypto market
• On Binance, shorts worth $311 million were liquidated, a record for the platform

Record liquidations on Binance push the price higher

Binance represents roughly 36% of the total open interest in Bitcoin futures. This makes the liquidations on this platform particularly striking. According to analyst Darkfost, yesterday saw the strongest short squeeze that Binance has experienced since the introduction of Bitcoin futures, with more than $311 million in forced liquidations within just a few hours.

Earlier, Bitcoin already shot to $69.000 in an earlier short squeeze, but the scale of the current liquidations far exceeds that.

How does a short squeeze work?

The mechanism behind a short squeeze is in principle simple: traders who had bet on a price decline are forced to close their position when the price rises, in order to limit further losses. Closing means buying back Bitcoin, which pushes the price up further and triggers new liquidations. This is how the effect reinforces itself.

Darkfost describes this as a classic but brutal mechanism that leads to sudden, unpredictable price movements. Such extreme liquidation events send shockwaves through the entire crypto market, as was clearly visible yesterday. Investors who had already anticipated low selling pressure around $70.000 saw their expectation confirmed in spectacular fashion.

Bitcoin breaks through key levels

With a rise of more than 11% in 24 hours, Bitcoin is now trading at $71.800. That is a significant breakthrough compared with recent trading levels. Whether the price can hold at this level depends in part on whether new buyers step in now that the forced buying has faded.

Retail demand for Bitcoin had already reached a two-year high, suggesting that there is interest outside the futures market as well. How the market develops in the coming hours will depend in part on whether sentiment among ordinary investors picks up after this sudden price explosion.