Bitcoin Breaks $81K as Short Sellers Get Crushed

Bitcoin's price surged past $81,000 on August 24, marking one of its strongest moves this year. The token peaked at $81,255 at 10:45 p.m. EST before settling above $80,500. This pushed Bitcoin's market cap to nearly $1.62 trillion.

The price climb also wiped out $282 million in short positions, accounting for 62% of all crypto shorts liquidated that day. In just four hours, $177 million in shorts were liquidated, compared with $4.5 million in long positions.

The rally was fueled by reports of a potential $950 billion Treasury bond buyback plan, which helped push yields lower. Analyst Kip Herriage said the move could squeeze short sellers in Treasuries, leading to higher bond prices and plummeting interest rates.