Bitcoin Breaks Through $85K as Crypto Markets Surge

Crypto markets have made significant gains on Friday, with Bitcoin surpassing $85,000 and total market capitalization reaching $3.042 trillion.

The surge in Bitcoin's price has been driven by a sharp short squeeze, which has led to over $200 million in short positions being liquidated.

Riya Sehgal, research analyst at Delta Exchange, said that the move higher came despite roughly $150 million in Bitcoin ETF outflows, indicating that the latest advance was driven more by technical momentum and market positioning than renewed institutional flows.

Ethereum also traded higher on Friday, with Ether priced at $2,719.61, up 0.2% over the past 24 hours.