Bitcoin Sprints Past $86,000 as Shorts Get Squeezed

Bitcoin's price has surged to an eight-month high of $86,000 on Monday, pushing bearish traders out of their short positions and drawing fresh leverage bets back in.

Roughly $750 million in bearish crypto derivative positions were liquidated as bitcoin cleared $82,000, a level that had capped prices since August, according to CoinGlass data. This has added fuel to the already upward market.

Futures open interest rose even faster than bitcoin's price, with about $2 billion in new leveraged exposure being added since the breakout, according to Coinalyze data. This suggests traders are pacing fresh bets even as shorts got wiped out.