Bitcoin Surges Past $87,000 Amid $648M Short Liquidation
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
According to cvj.ai, Bitcoin rallied past $87,000 on Monday, triggering a massive short squeeze that liquidated $648 million in bearish positions within 24 hours. This forced buying cascade propelled prices higher and caused crypto trading volume to jump 39% as traders rushed to capitalize on the momentum. Social media sentiment shifted heavily toward greed, with Santiment noting that Bitcoin-related FOMO reached levels not seen since late 2024.
Open interest across the crypto market rose 7.6% to $156 billion, indicating that traders are quickly rebuilding leverage rather than reducing exposure. Despite the optimism, Santiment warned that such one-sided optimism can signal caution, as crowded trades often precede sharp corrections. Analyst Doctor Profit highlighted that Bitcoin surged past the crucial 50-week moving average around $78,700, with $88,000 identified as the next major target.
On longer timeframes, The Long Investor projected a Wave 5 target of $350,000 by 2030, while Crypto Patel pointed to a historical 364-day cycle suggesting a potential destination of $370,000. Glassnode confirmed the asset remains in a bullish regime, trading above both the True Market Mean and short-term holder cost basis. The firm noted that holding above these levels historically defines a sustained uptrend.
As Bitcoin consolidates near $87,000, the market faces a crossroads between further upside and the risk of a reversal. The surge in leverage indicates strong conviction, but also raises the specter of another violent squeeze against overextended longs.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 22 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Bitcoin is currently trading at $86,620.00 on Binance spot markets. While the 24-hour buy ratio stands at 51.8%, the shorter-term 1-hour ratio has dropped to 43.8%, and the 4-hour ratio is at 48.3%, suggesting that immediate buying pressure is fading compared to the daily average. This shift is reflected in the negative volume deltas of -$10,147,087 over the last hour and -$8,976,337 over the last four hours, indicating that sellers are currently dominating intraday flows. However, the 24-hour volume delta remains positive at +$94,075,438, showing that net buying has occurred over the full day despite recent selling. The cumulative volume delta (CVD) for the 24-hour period closed at -$50,543,022, highlighting that despite the positive delta, the final price action or order book dynamics resulted in a net negative flow by close. Net buying was observed for only 8 of the 24 hours, with spot volume reaching $2,702,559,884 across 4,461,004 trades.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 51.9%, making today's 24-hour ratio of 51.8% virtually identical to the weekly norm. However, the spot volume of $2.7 billion is 2.23 times the weekly average, marking this as an unusually active trading day. The 24-hour volume delta of +$94 million contributes to a total 8-day volume delta of +$418,456,666, which aligns with the broader weekly trend of net buying. While price activity has accelerated significantly compared to the average day, the directional bias remains consistent with the prior week's performance. This suggests that the current price level is being supported by sustained, albeit intensified, accumulation rather than a sudden shift in market structure.