Bitcoin Short Liquidations Loom Near $90,000 Glassnode Warns

On-chain analytics firm Glassnode has identified a significant concentration of vulnerable short bets on Bitcoin, with the largest cluster positioned near the $90,000 mark. As of October 4, 2026, this cluster looms just a few percentage points above Bitcoin’s then-current trading range of $85,000 to $86,000, making it a critical level for leveraged traders.

If Bitcoin’s price reaches the $90,000 zone, Glassnode’s data suggests a wave of forced liquidations could occur. Short positions are bets that Bitcoin’s price will fall, and when the price rises instead, exchanges automatically close these positions to protect borrowed funds. This forced buying can push the price higher, potentially triggering a chain reaction of liquidations.

Glassnode’s heatmap reveals that the densest concentration of these liquidation triggers is around $90,000, with estimates of cumulative short liquidations in the hundreds of millions of dollars across various platforms. Smaller clusters have also formed near $83,000 and $75,000, which could accelerate market movements if Bitcoin approaches those levels.

Earlier in the year, a dense band of short positions between $82,000 and $86,000 was mostly cleared out during rallies in August and September, following record short liquidations. With that band wiped out, the next significant cluster has shifted to $90,000. The potential for a squeeze depends on whether this cluster thickens or thins as Bitcoin hovers in the mid-$80,000s.