BTC Clears $71K After Six-Week Standoff, Triggering $3B Short Liquidations

• Bitcoin has broken above its six-week trading range, setting off nearly $3 billion in short liquidations and marking the biggest forced short unwind in the market since at least 2021.
• BTC climbed past $71,000 for the first time since June, gaining around 3.5% since midnight UTC and approximately 11% over the last 24 hours. The move ended the range that had kept Bitcoin between key levels since July 8.
• The rally initially appeared to be driven more by market positioning than by a major fundamental shift. Bitcoin had spent six weeks trading between roughly $62,000 and $66,900, while volatility fell to multi-year lows.
• The extended consolidation led traders to accumulate short positions around the upper boundary, leaving substantial liquidation exposure between $65,000 and $67,000.
• Momentum shifted after the US Treasury said it would at least double its long-term bond buybacks to $4 billion. The announcement helped pull the 30-year Treasury yield down from 5.337%, its highest point since 2007, improving sentiment toward risk assets.
• After BTC broke through resistance, short sellers were forced to cover, adding another wave of buying pressure. Bitcoin climbed more than 8% within an hour as the squeeze accelerated.

Trump’s Remarks Add Fresh Momentum

• President Donald Trump spoke about the crypto market several hours later, once Bitcoin had already completed much of its initial advance.
• Trump called on Congress to pass the Clarity Act, indicated the US could purchase sizable amounts of Bitcoin and said regulators were working toward a compliant US route for Hyperliquid.
• The comments gave the market another lift and helped Bitcoin remain above $70,000.
• Ether traded around $2,270, slightly below its three-month high, after gaining 19% in 24 hours. Solana, XRP and Dogecoin also advanced by double digits.
• Coinbase’s Fear and Greed Index climbed to 59, moving into “greed” from 41, or “fear.” Bitcoin’s daily trading volume also increased 250% to roughly $59 billion.

Short Sellers Take a Major Hit

• About $3 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, compared with approximately $263.5 million in long liquidations.
• Bitcoin made up around $1.67 billion of the forced closures, while Ether accounted for about $1.14 billion. More than $1 billion was wiped out in just one hour.
• The BTC long-to-short account ratio declined to 0.835 from around 1.05 on Tuesday, indicating that short positions were more prevalent than long positions before the breakout.
• That positioning imbalance helped amplify Bitcoin’s move into a major short squeeze.

Derivatives Positioning Rebuilds

• Aggregate open interest rose 9.11% to $131.25 billion, according to Coinalyze. Bitcoin OI climbed 7.18% to $23.4 billion, while Ether OI increased 12.36% to $13.2 billion.
• HYPE posted the strongest OI growth, rising 29%. Most of the increase came after Trump discussed a possible US regulatory route for Hyperliquid rather than during the first phase of Bitcoin’s rally.
• Funding rates remained relatively moderate despite the sharp move, with BTC at 0.0101% and ETH at 0.0103%.
• The restrained funding suggests traders have not yet rebuilt the heavy leverage that commonly follows a large short squeeze.
• Futures basis also narrowed, with the Aug. 28 OKX contract at a 7.68% annualized premium and the Sept. 25 Deribit contract at 4.71%.
• This suggests spot demand is leading the rally, rather than excessive futures leverage, providing a comparatively healthier market signal.

Altcoins Move Higher

• LIT rose 12.4% since midnight to $2.92 and gained 26.5% over 24 hours, taking its weekly advance to 22.8%.
• PUMP climbed 9.39% to $0.003285, extending its recent gains as daily trading volume reached $112 million.
• ETHFI advanced 5.68% to $0.5566 and was up 46.3% over seven days, benefiting from Ether’s move toward a three-month high.
• HYPE added 2.4% since midnight to $71.12 and was 21.9% higher over 24 hours following Trump’s comments about a potential US pathway for Hyperliquid.
• WLFI was a notable laggard, falling 4.66% to $0.0586.
• Bitcoin dominance increased to 59.2%, while CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index dropped to 36 from 44. The shift indicates that traders are favoring Bitcoin and other large-cap assets over smaller altcoins.