Bitcoin Price Surges Near $70,000 Amid Record Short Squeeze
A massive short squeeze in the Bitcoin market propelled its price to an intraday high of $68,982.40 on August 19, according to records from CoinGecko.
The event saw approximately $1.1 billion in short position liquidations within 24 hours, a record-breaking figure that surpassed previous highs of $757 million in May 2021 and $694 million in November 2025.
Vetle Lunde, head of research at K33 Research, noted that this is the first daily record exceeding one billion dollars in short liquidations for Bitcoin, with data restrictions on platforms like Binance limiting historical comparison.
The upward movement coincided with monetary policy announcements from the US Department of the Treasury, which doubled its operating limit to support long-term nominal securities. This change led to a rotation of capital toward higher volatility assets, contributing to the price surge.