The bears were wrong again.
bitcoin It briefly hit $80,594 early Monday, its highest level since Jan. 31, before retreating to trade around $79,851 at the time of writing. The move triggered $370 million in total cryptocurrency liquidations in the last 24 hours, affecting 97,235 traders, according to data from CoinGlass. Of that total, $301.93 million came from short positions.
The shorts were liquidated approximately four times more than the longs, indicating that bearish positioning was dominant at the start of the move. They were caught offside when the rally forced them to undo losing positions.
Bitcoin alone accounted for $179 million of the wipeout, with ether traders contributing $95 million. The largest liquidation was a $11.77 million short on ETH/USDT on Binance.
The contraction is the second of its kind in two weeks. A similar setup on April 18 wiped out $593 million in shorts as bitcoin surpassed $77,000 following reports of a ceasefire in Iran.
The pattern is starting to look structural.
Bitcoin perpetual equity funding rates have remained negative for most of April, meaning shorts have been calling long to stay short, and every time the price rises, the same trade unravels wildly.
Other large companies accepted the offer. Ether rose 2.3% to $2,368 and is up 2.2% on the week. XRP gained 2.1% to $1.42. BNB added 1.9% to $630. Solana rose 1.4% to $85.14. Dogecoin remains the standout performer, up 3.5% on the day and 14.3% on the week to $0.1119, extending the breakout that began last week along with the year’s highest open interest in DOGE futures.
Net inflows into US spot bitcoin ETFs reached $153.9 million last week, according to SoSoValue. April attracted $1.97 billion across products, the highest monthly total since October 2025. Ether ETFs saw the opposite move, with $82.5 million in net outflows ending a three-week streak of inflows.
FxPro analysts said in a note that bitcoin needs to consolidate above $85,000 to confirm the breakout.
“The rising price and the downward-sloping 200-day moving average are actively converging with an important long-term trend line at $83,600. Consolidation above this level could further encourage traders, but we would prefer to see consolidation above $85,000 first.
Derivatives positioning
- Privacy-focused Zcash (ZEC), market-leading ether (ETH) and bitcoin smart contract platform are the biggest open interest (OI) gainers over the past 24 hours, pointing to a broad rebound in derivatives activity.
- Bitcoin OI futures have risen to 763.35k BTC, well above the May 1 low of 707.24k BTC. The increase suggests new capital inflows to the market after the reduction of risks at the end of the month of April. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s 24-hour cumulative volume delta (CVD) has turned positive, meaning buyers are driving trading activity by placing more market orders than sellers, rather than using passive limit orders.
- ZEC shows a similar configuration. Open interest sits near a four-month high of 2.26 million tokens, accompanied by one of the strongest CVD readings among major tokens. Funding rates are also positive, around 7%, indicating a bias towards long positioning.
- Ethereum futures OI has risen to 14.17 million ETH, the highest level since April 18. Like Bitcoin, it is supported by positive funding rates and a positive 24-hour CVD, suggesting sustained demand for leveraged long positions.
- Not all markets seem so balanced. Monero (XMR) privacy coin and They appear overheated, with signs of overcrowded bullish positioning. Funding rates in these markets have risen above 60%, raising the risk of prolonged restrictions if momentum stops.
- Options markets, however, are showing signs of relative calm. Thirty-day annualized implied volatility for both bitcoin and ether has remained subdued for over a month, consistent with a steady and growing rally. The Ethereum Volatility Index (EVIV) is now approaching the 55% level, a zone that has acted as a floor several times since 2024, making it a key level to watch for a potential spike in volatility.
- On Deribit, bitcoin and ether selling biases have noticeably weakened compared to a month ago. This shift suggests less demand for downside protection and greater appetite for upside exposure through call options as prices continue to rise.
symbolic talk
- One of the biggest winners from the CLARITY Act’s performance pledge appears to be real-world asset tokens. The compromise would cause companies to restructure rewards programs from a “buy and hold” model to a “buy and use” model.
- That, combined with growing regulatory clarity around real-world tokenized assets, has helped fuel a rally in RWA tokens, with Ondo Finance’s ONDO leading the gains.
- It is up 11% in the last 24 hours, surpassing its reported 90-day trading range, as investors returned to real-world tokenized assets. Sheets that include and PENDLE are also on the rise.
- Ondo’s total locked value amounts to $3.57 billion, with a market value of $1.5 billion according to DeFiLlama data. The rally is also due to growing interest in the tokenization of real-world assets, with over $30.9 billion tokenized according to data from RWA.xyz.
- The move came after several recent developments for the project. Ondo Finance tapped Broadridge Financial Solutions to add proxy voting and filing access for over 250 tokenized stocks and ETFs this week alone.
