BTC Surges 23% in Week-Long Short Squeeze Frenzy

A massive rally in Bitcoin has seen prices jump by 23% over the past week. Since Monday, August 17th, BTC has moved from $62,900 to trade at $77,306 as of writing. The surge was fueled by heavy buying pressure and capital inflow into the market, along with enormous short liquidations.

According to CoinGlass data, the crypto market experienced $2.739 billion in short liquidations on August 19th, followed by another $1.265 billion in liquidation wave on August 21st. This was one of the largest short squeezes in 2026, with the RSI on the 4-hour timeframe reaching historical extremes.

Analyst Boris noted that the cumulative short liquidations on Binance have surpassed the cumulative long liquidations, a first since October 2025. The pace of the rally has caught the market off guard and punished bears, but it remains to be seen if long positions will also be affected.