Bitcoin surges past $80.000 after $180 million in short liquidations

Bitcoin shoots through the $80.000 barrier in a short space of time, after the price jumps by around $2.000 in forty minutes. The rise is accompanied by the liquidation of around $180 million in short positions over twelve hours. This marks a price move by Bitcoin that catches many short sellers off guard and shakes up the market.

Bitcoin is available at OKX and Bybit.

In brief:

• Bitcoin rises more than 5% and touches $80.000
• $180 million in short positions is liquidated in twelve hours
• The price shot up by around $2.000 in forty minutes

Sharp rise surprises short sellers

The sudden price move particularly affects traders who had bet on a further decline in Bitcoin. When the price rises rapidly while a short position is open, that position is automatically closed as soon as losses reach a certain threshold. This process is called liquidation and reinforces the upward move, because those forced closures also generate additional buying pressure.

According to WatcherGuru, $180 million in short positions had already been liquidated across the crypto market as a whole in the past sixty minutes.

Bitcoin approaches $80.000 after weeks of recovery

The jump to $80.000 fits into a broader recovery. Bitcoin previously rose above the average cost basis of short-term investors, which is seen as a technically positive signal. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $79.926, up 4.4% over the past 24 hours.

Inflows into Bitcoin ETFs also show a positive picture. Bitcoin ETFs attracted $159 million on 17 September, after an earlier period of outflows. Whether the current price rise will further fuel those inflows is not yet clear.