Bitcoin climbed above $85,000 on Monday for the first time since January, causing significant losses for traders betting against the cryptocurrency. According to CoinGlass, short liquidations reached $634.7 million over the past 24 hours at 11:25 a.m. UTC, while long liquidations totaled $121.3 million.
Mass liquidations and increased trading activity
In total, forced closures across all crypto assets over the 24-hour period amounted to approximately $756 million, affecting 114,385 traders. CoinGlass reported that Bitcoin alone was responsible for $367.1 million of the short liquidations, with Ethereum contributing $154.2 million.
Among the largest single events was an $11.29 million BTCUSDT position that was liquidated on Binance, which is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
Despite the wave of liquidations, market-wide open interest rose by 8.07% to $155.7 billion. Additionally, 24-hour trading volume jumped 57.96% to $235.7 billion, reflecting a surge in trading activity as prices broke new ground.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Short liquidations | $634.7 million |
| Long liquidations | $121.3 million |
| Total forced closures | $756 million |
| Open interest | $155.7 billion |
| Trading volume (24h) | $235.7 billion |
Major altcoins post gains
Other major cryptocurrencies also saw strong upward moves. Ethereum traded over $2,700, up more than 5% on the day. Solana gained over 7% to trade above $116, and XRP rose nearly 8% to reach $1.49, according to CoinGecko.
Analysts reflect on recent momentum
Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, highlighted Bitcoin’s technical progress. He noted in a Monday post that Bitcoin closed the week above its 50-week moving average for the first time in 45 weeks. Historically, this level has marked a strong confirmation that bear market lows are behind, he observed, with Bitcoin up 29% over the past 35 days.
Alex Thorn emphasized that Bitcoin trading above the 50-week moving average after 45 weeks suggested the bear market low may have passed, as the cryptocurrency had gained 29% in just over a month.
Bitcoin reached a recent low of $74,977 on September 15 and has risen about 13% since then. However, it remains down roughly 3% year-to-date and sits 33% below its all-time high of $126,080 from October 2025.
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States recorded $433 million in inflows last week, reversing a recent trend of net outflows. This influx brought the week’s cumulative flows into positive territory at $6.2 million.
Bitcoin has already traded above $80,000 once earlier this month, briefly surpassing the level on September 4 before retreating.
Focus on broader trends and correlations
Khing Oei, founder and CEO of Dutch bitcoin treasury firm Treasury, pointed to Bitcoin’s new high versus the S&P 500 as a significant shift. In a post over the weekend, he remarked that after months of behaving like a low volatility gold substitute, Bitcoin had decoupled and marked a new milestone against the equity benchmark.
Khing Oei observed that a rally emerging from compressed volatility and strong gold correlation is primarily driven by allocation, which tends to move gradually before accelerating all at once.
These moves underline a period of heightened volatility and shifting market sentiment as major cryptocurrencies extend their gains in September.
Mini dictionary: CoinGlass is a crypto analytics platform that provides real-time data on futures, liquidations, market sentiment, and other key metrics across digital asset markets.
