Bitcoin hits $63,700, triggers $504M in short liquidations!

Bitcoin surged to $63,700 on Monday after rebounding from last week's sub-$60,000 lows, triggering $504 million in short liquidations over 24 hours — the largest single-day short squeeze since late April, according to CoinGlass. Total crypto liquidations across the market reached $655 million and wiped out more than 104,000 traders, with BTC positions accounting for $315 million and ETH for $201 million. The single largest forced closure was a $12.3 million bitcoin futures position on OKX.

Why it matters

The scale of the squeeze reflects how aggressively traders had repositioned short near last week's lows, which were driven by Strategy's first BTC sale since 2022, a broad unwind in AI-linked equities, and a record streak of outflows from spot bitcoin ETFs. When bitcoin reversed sharply over the weekend — briefly touching $63,800 on Sunday — those leveraged bets got caught on the wrong side in rapid succession. The lopsided ratio tells the story: short sellers lost $504 million against just $151 million in long liquidations, confirming the move was a short-covering rally rather than fresh institutional buying.

Market impact

The rally lost momentum on Monday as renewed Iran-Israel military exchanges sent oil prices up more than 3% and knocked Asian equities sharply lower — South Korea's KOSPI fell nearly 7%. Bitcoin retreated to around $62,900 but remains well above last week's floor. Volatility is expected to stay elevated ahead of key U.S. inflation data and a wave of major IPOs including SpaceX. Treasury yields and oil prices rising in tandem represent a classic risk-off headwind for BTC in the near term.