Bitcoin BTC briefly touched $80,594 early Monday, its highest print since January 31, before pulling back to trade around $79,851 at the time of writing. The move caught bears on the wrong side of the market again, leading to $370 million in total crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours affecting 97,235 traders, according to CoinGlass data.

Market Context

The broader crypto market followed Bitcoin's lead with most major tokens posting gains. Ether ETH climbed 2.3% to $2,368 and is up 2.2% on the week. XRP gained 2.1% to $1.42. BNB added 1.9% to $630. Solana rose 1.4% to $85.14.

Crypto Bears Got It Wrong Again

Short positions accounted for $301.93 million of the total liquidation wipeout, with shorts liquidated roughly four times as much as longs. This indicates bearish positioning was dominant heading into the move, and traders were caught offside as the rally forced them to unwind positions at a loss. Bitcoin alone contributed $179 million to the wipeout, while ether traders absorbed $95 million in losses.

The single-largest liquidation was an $11.77 million ETH/USDT short on Binance. The squeeze marks the second major short squeeze in two weeks, following a similar setup on April 18 that wiped out $593 million in shorts as bitcoin pushed past $77,000 amid reports of an Iran ceasefire. Funding rates on bitcoin perpetuals have been pinned negative for most of April, meaning shorts were paying longs to maintain positions, and each price push higher triggered violent unwinds.

Dogecoin DOGE emerged as the standout performer, up 3.5% on the day and 14.3% on the week to $0.1119, extending a breakout that began last week alongside year-high open interest in DOGE futures.

Analysis

The pattern is beginning to look structural rather than episodic. Privacy-focused Zcash ZEC, smart contract platform ether, and market leader bitcoin are showing the biggest open interest gains over the past 24 hours, pointing to a broad pickup in derivatives activity across the space.

Bitcoin's futures open interest climbed to 763,350 BTC, up sharply from the May 1 low of 707,240 BTC. The increase suggests renewed capital inflows following April's end-of-month de-risking period. Meanwhile, Bitcoin's 24-hour cumulative volume delta has turned positive, meaning buyers are driving trading activity by placing more market orders than sellers rather than using passive limit orders.

Zcash is showing a similar setup with open interest hovering near a four-month high at 2.26 million tokens, accompanied by one of the strongest CVD readings among major tokens. Funding rates sit around 7%, indicating a bias toward long positioning.

Ethereum's futures open interest has risen to 14.17 million ETH, the highest level since April 18. Like Bitcoin, it is backed by positive funding rates and a positive 24-hour CVD, suggesting sustained demand from leveraged longs.

Not all markets appear balanced. Privacy coin Monero XMR shows signs of overheated positioning with funding rates surging above 60%, raising the risk of long squeezes if momentum stalls.

Net inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs reached $153.9 million last week, per SoSoValue data. April pulled in $1.97 billion across products, the highest monthly total since October 2025. Ether ETFs saw the opposite move with $82.5 million in net outflows ending a three-week inflow streak.

Options markets are signaling relative calm. Annualized thirty-day implied volatility for both Bitcoin and ether has remained subdued for over a month, consistent with a steady grind-higher rally. Ethereum's volatility index is approaching the 55% level, which has acted as a floor multiple times since 2024.

On Deribit, put skews in bitcoin and ether have weakened notably compared to a month ago, suggesting reduced demand for downside protection and increased appetite for upside exposure via call options as prices continue to rise.

Key Numbers

- $80,594: Bitcoin's intraday high on Monday, highest since January 31

- $370 million: Total crypto liquidations in past 24 hours

- $301.93 million: Short position liquidations, roughly four times the long liquidation total

- $179 million: Bitcoin's contribution to total liquidations

- $95 million: Ether traders' share of losses

- $11.77 million: Single-largest liquidation, an ETH/USDT short on Binance

- 763,350 BTC: Bitcoin futures open interest, up from May 1 low of 707,240 BTC

- 14.17 million ETH: Ethereum futures OI, highest since April 18

- $153.9 million: Weekly net inflows into U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs

- $1.97 billion: Total ETF inflows in April, highest monthly total since October 2025

What to Watch

FxPro analysts noted that bitcoin needs to consolidate above $85,000 to confirm the breakout, with an important long-term trend line sitting at $83,600 where the rising price and downward-sloping 200-day moving average are converging. Consolidation above these levels could further encourage traders.

The CLARITY Act yield compromise is also driving RWA token interest. The proposed shift from a "buy and hold" to a "buy and use" model has boosted regulatory clarity hopes, with Ondo Finance's ONDO leading gains at 11% over the past 24 hours. Ondo's total value locked stands at $3.57 billion according to DeFiLlama data.

Ethereum volatility levels near the 55% zone will be key for options traders watching for potential pickup in market uncertainty.