Bitcoin shorts scramble for the exits as BTC climbs

Bitcoin shorts scramble for the exits as BTC price climbs

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Bitcoin surged from an intraday low near $86,200 to reclaim $90,000, driven by aggressive spot buying and a wave of short liquidations.

By James Van Straten, Oliver Knight|Edited by Sheldon Reback

Updated Dec 17, 2025, 3:46 p.m. Published Dec 17, 2025, 3:41 p.m.

Bear overlooking woodland (Pixabay)
  • Over $110 million in bitcoin short positions were liquidated in the past hour, according to Coinglass alongside a muted rise in open interest
  • The action points to spot-driven demand rather than leveraged bets driving BTC’s surge to $90,000.
  • Bitcoin’s cumulative volume delta jumped 1,100% during the rally, signaling aggressive buying pressure not seen since early December.
  • Global Macro Investor’s Julien Bittel says an “oversold” RSI reading supports a prolonged bull market, arguing the traditional four-year cycle has broken down as bitcoin dominance climbs toward 60%.

More than $110 million in bitcoin BTC$88,440.70 short positions were liquidated as the price of largest cryptocurrency climbed to $90,000 from an intraday low of $86,200 on Wednesday.

Coinglass data shows the short positions were liquidated in the past hour, with the majority occurring on bitcoin trading pairs.

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The price surge also coincided with a relatively subdued drop in futures open interest, suggesting that those in short positions either covered their positions buying spot, as opposed to leveraged products, to minimize risk or were liquidated.

Bitcoin’s cumulative volume delta (CVD) rose by 1,100% during the spike, indicating that aggressive buyers are overpowering sellers. That’s behavior not seen since Dec. 1.

Altcoins lagged bitcoin’s move for the most part as bitcoin dominance climbed back towards 60%, a far cry from September when it reached as low as 56.7%.

Over the past year, Wednesday has been the strongest performing weekday for bitcoin, data from Velo shows.

Oversold RSI signals an extended bitcoin bull market

Julien Bittel, the head of macro research at Global Macro Investor argues that bitcoin’s recent price action is consistent with historical recoveries following “oversold” RSI readings, with the latest RSI breaking below 30 which occurred in September 2025.

Bittel said the traditional four year cycle is no longer valid, not because of the halving, but due to shifts in debt refinancing, longer term maturities and liquidity dynamics. The current bull market will extend into 2026, Bittel said.

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What to know:

  • The price of bitcoin (BTC) surged over 2.8% in an hour, rising above $90,000 to mark a fresh session high and triggering gains across crypto-linked companies.
  • Mining stocks, trading platforms, and cryptocurrency infrastructure firms saw significant gains, with HUT, RIOT, and COIN rallying.
  • The broader cryptocurrency market is also showing signs of renewed momentum, with other cryptocurrencies, such as Ether and XRP, also seeing gains of 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively, and Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy (MSTR) rising 1.6%.


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