Bitcoin short-sellers were pummeled on Thursday as the cryptocurrency surged to new all-time highs, resulting in more than $1 billion in short positions liquidated in 24 hours . CoinGlass data shows that $1.01 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated, impacting 232,149 traders . This included approximately $570 million in Bitcoin shorts and $206.93 million in Ether shorts .
The liquidations came as Bitcoin clocked a new record high for the second day in a row — $112,000 on Wednesday and $116,500 on Thursday, while Ether surged to $2,990 on Thursday . Crypto market capitalization has spiked 4.4% over the past 24 hours to $3.63 trillion .
Analysts and traders responded to the event with mixed sentiments. Crypto analyst Miles Deutscher described the situation as "Bears in disbelief," while crypto trader Daan Crypto Trades referred to it as a "MASSIVE Short squeeze on BTC & ETH" .
Bitcoin's rise has been influenced by growing allocations from institutional investors, including entities moving bitcoin into treasury portfolios and ETFs . Corporate treasuries continue to accumulate Bitcoin aggressively . Strategy Inc and GameStop Corp have announced board‑approved Bitcoin purchases .
Bitcoin hit a record high of $113,541, with its total market value reaching approximately $2.25 trillion .