Bitcoin FOMO surges to multi-year high

While Bitcoin (BTC) price surged to its highest level since January 29, 2026, at $87,395 on September 21, its FOMO (fear of missing out) rocketed to a multi-year peak on Monday.

Bitcoin’s FOMO spiked to the highest bullish sentiment since December 2024, according to metrics from Santiment that Finbold analyzed on September 22.

As Bitcoin’s FOMO climbed to the highest level in nearly 22 months, its bullish momentum was bolstered by renewed demand in its spot and derivatives markets. 

At the time of writing, a total of $370 million had been liquidated over the past 24 hours, with $297.20 million involving short trades, based on updates from CoinGlass. Consequently, BTC’s FOMO coincided with a Short squeeze, a sharp upward price surge driven by short sellers being forced to cover their positions.

Bitcoin’s Open Interest, the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, gained 4% in the past 24 hours, hovering at $61.56 billion at press time, as per data from CoinGlass. 

Meanwhile, the flagship coin experienced heightened bullish sentiment led by significant demand from the United States spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs). On Monday, the U.S. spot BTC ETFs recorded a net cash inflow of $998.95 million, their biggest daily gain so far in 2026, based on analysis from SoSoValue.