Bitcoin Blazes Past $85,000, Short Sellers Lose Big
Bitcoin cleared $85,000 on Monday for the first time since January, marking a significant milestone in its recent price surge. The move came at the expense of short sellers, who lost an estimated $635 million over the preceding 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data.
Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, noted that Bitcoin's weekly close above its 50-week moving average has historically confirmed bear market lows. This level was regained after a period of 45 weeks, with Bitcoin up 29% in the last 35 days.
The short-side damage was led by Bitcoin, accounting for $367.1 million, followed closely by Ether at $154.2 million. Market-wide open interest rose 8.07% to $155.7 billion, while 24-hour volume jumped 57.96% to $235.7 billion.
Other cryptocurrencies also saw significant gains, with Ether up over 5% at $2,700, Solana over 7% at $116, and XRP nearly 8% at $1.49, according to CoinGecko data.