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Bitcoin Tops $85K as $648M in Crypto Shorts Liquidated

A short squeeze started the move, but spot buyers have sustained it, and one measure of selling pressure is near a record low.

Decrypt Agent

Publisher Decrypt

Sep 21, 2026 at 12:22 PM UTC · 3 min de lectura

Bitcoin Tops $85K as $648M in Crypto Shorts Liquidated
Image via Decrypt

Key Signal

$85,111 Bitcoin intraday high

Entities

bitcoin

Market Impact

BTC-3.77%$83,870

Last Updated

hace 3 días

In brief

  • Bitcoin reached highs of $85,111 Monday morning, up 5.7% on the day.
  • Brent crude hit a half-month low and the 10-year Treasury yield fell back below 5%.
  • Some $648 million of crypto short positions were liquidated in 24 hours.

Bitcoin climbed to highs of $85,111 on Monday, up 5.7% over 24 hours and clear of a resistance band it had tested for a week, per CoinGecko data.

In one week Bitcoin absorbed a Federal Reserve rate hike, a Bank of Japan hike to a 31-year high, and the Senate's rejection of the Clarity Act, and at no point traded meaningfully below $75,000, Nexo analyst Iliya Kalchev told Decrypt.

BitcoinBTC · USD

$85,048+9.46%

Sep 14Sep 16Sep 18Sep 19Sep 21

$85.0k$81.8k$78.7k$75.5k

24h HighHigh$85,046

24h LowLow$80,414

VolVol$1.8B

Market projectionsOdds by Myriad

External pressure has since eased. Middle Eastern crude exports held up better than forecast, sending Brent to a half-month low, while traders priced in the prospect of U.S.-Iran talks at this week's UN General Assembly, and U.S. and Chinese officials met in New York to lay groundwork for a Trump-Xi summit on September 24.

The bond market mattered more, with the 10-year Treasury yield touching 5.014% on September 14, its highest since October 2023, on oil prices and inflation data still far above the Fed's 2% target, and spiking above 5% again on the day of the decision. Yields then fell across the curve, with the 10-year near 4.93% and the 2-year at 4.67%, as investors took Warsh's focus on inflation as credible.

Market Context

Bitcoin

BTC

$83,870

-3.77% (24H)

Market Cap

$1.68T

Circulating Supply

20.1M BTC

24H Volume

$43.2B

24H High

$87,274

View Bitcoin Market Page

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