Bitcoin hits $86,000 as $750 million in shorts liquidate

CoinDesk reported that Bitcoin reached $86,000 on Monday, marking a fresh peak not seen in eight months after the asset cleared the $82,000 threshold.

This breakout led to the clearing of approximately $750 million in bearish crypto derivative positions, per CoinGlass data. Jim Ferraioli, head of crypto research at Schwab, explained to CoinDesk, “Bitcoin up 5% this morning due to short perpetual futures contracts being liquidated.”

Coinalyze data shows new leveraged exposure rose by about $2 billion following the breakout. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $746 million in outflows over Tuesday and Wednesday, before attracting $160 million on Thursday and $433 million on Friday. The average entry price for U.S. BTC ETF holders is now $82,225, putting ETF investors back in profit.

Nicolai Sondergaard, senior research analyst at Nansen, observed, “The important distinction is that price has turned bullish faster than positioning has.” He pointed to $87,000 as the subsequent barrier, with $90,000 following.

Jasper De Maere, an OTC trader at Wintermute, stated, “We, like many others, would read this reclaim as confirmation that the June low holds.” He added that reaching $90,000 remains a possibility.

Bitcoin had previously stalled at $82,000 in May and fallen below $60,000 in June. On Oct. 10, a price drop caused the liquidation of approximately $19 billion in leveraged positions, representing the largest such event in the market.