Bitcoin Tops $87K on a Near-Billion-Dollar Short Squeeze
Bitcoin hits a nine-month high above $87,000 as roughly $648M in shorts get liquidated and spot-ETF inflows surge. Extreme greed flashes caution.
A squeeze, not a stampede
Bitcoin cleared $87,000, its highest print since December and a level few traders were positioned for. The move owed more to forced covering than fresh conviction: roughly $648 million in short positions were liquidated inside 24 hours, with total liquidations brushing the billion-dollar mark. Anyone leaning against the recovery had to buy back at rising prices, and that covering became the rally's own fuel.
Four of five majors at three-month highs
The bid was broad. Ether, Dogecoin and XRP all lifted, with Dogecoin topping the daily leaderboard. Four of the five largest coins now sit at three-month highs; only XRP is missing. The Fear and Greed Index flipped into "extreme greed," and the first analysts were already calling the bear market over.
The timing is what makes it notable. Five sessions ago Kevin Warsh's Fed delivered its first rate hike since 2023 and knocked Bitcoin below $75,000. A run to $87,000 is a gain of about 16% in under a week: the market digested a more restrictive central bank far faster than the consensus expected.
Follow the ETF flows
Underneath the tape sits a harder signal. Inflows into the U.S. spot ETFs have jumped sharply, and that is what separates this leg from a purely leverage-driven squeeze. Institutional money is buying spot while the derivatives book supplies the near-term volatility.
One on-chain detail argues for caution. A wallet dormant for 14 years moved $51 million in coins. Old supply waking up tends to cluster around local tops, when early holders sell into strength.
The trader's read
Extreme greed is historically a fade, not a green light. Overheated sentiment, a leveraged squeeze and the first whale prints together point to elevated pullback risk over the coming sessions. The larger uptrend holds as long as ETF demand does; the $81,000 zone is the obvious first test if the covering bid dries up.