Bearish crypto bets lose record $2.7 billion as bitcoin surges toward $70,000

Short sellers lost nearly $2.7 billion in 24 hours as bitcoin surged toward $70,000, the largest wave of forced short closures in records going back to 2021.

Total liquidations reached nearly $3 billion across 172,108 traders, according to CoinGlass. Shorts accounted for roughly 92% of that, against $257 million on the long side, a ratio of more than ten to one.

The comparison that gives the number its weight comes from last October. On Oct. 10, 2025, bitcoin crashed days after setting a record above $126,000, producing $19 billion of liquidations in a single day, still the largest deleveraging event in crypto history. Shorts made up $2.47 billion of it at the time.

Wednesday's short liquidations were larger than that, without any of the accompanying carnage on the long side.

Bitcoin traded just above $69,100 in Asian morning hours Thursday, up almost 8% over 24 hours after touching nearly $69,900, a swing of more than $5,700 from Wednesday's low near $64,100. It has not traded at these levels since early June.

The squeeze was concentrated and fast. More than $1 billion of bitcoin shorts were closed in roughly an hour, and $1.42 billion across the full day. Ether accounted for $1.13 billion and solana $104.67 million. The largest single position wiped out was a $48.8 million bitcoin trade on Hyperliquid.

As such, one caveat applies to the record. Binance restricted its liquidation reporting in April 2021, and CoinGlass publishes only one liquidation order per second from the exchange, meaning both Wednesday's figure and every historical comparison may understate the true totals.

Watch whether bitcoin holds above $69,000 through the Asian and European session. A squeeze of this size clears out the traders positioned against a rally, which removes the fuel that drove it, and moves built on forced buying rather than fresh demand have a habit of giving some of it back.