Bitcoin Surges Past $68K, Triggers Record-Breaking Short Liquidations
Bitcoin's recent surge has triggered an unprecedented wave of short liquidations. According to data from CoinGecko, $BTC climbed as high as $68,982.40 over the past 24 hours before easing to around $68,189.62, representing a gain of roughly 5.4%. This is Bitcoin's first break above $68,000 since June.
The scale of the derivatives squeeze was historic, with K33 Research data showing that Bitcoin perpetual futures recorded approximately $1.1 billion in short liquidations in a single day. This surpasses previous major liquidation events, including peaks of roughly $757 million in May 2021 and $694 million in November 2025.
Vetle Lunde, head of research at K33, described the event as Bitcoin's 'first-ever daily billion-dollar short liquidation volume' and the largest short liquidation volume on record. However, it is worth noting that Binance limited its liquidation data in April 2021, so the record should be understood within the available exchange data.