The 1 billion short position burst helped BTC break through 86,000, and the 90,000 mark became the focus of the decisive battle

According to Woofun AI, Bitcoin's strong break through the $86,000 mark directly triggered the forced liquidation of more than $1 billion of short positions. This drastic deleveraging process quickly directed the market's attention to the critical psychological threshold of $90,000. CryptoSlate's statistics show that this price jump not only cleared the previous backlog of huge bearish leverage, but also marked a significant shift in market dominance from bears to bulls, laying the structural foundation for the subsequent market.

With double verification of technology and on-chain activity, Bitcoin showed a strong recovery momentum. The asset surged to $87,363 in the past 24 hours, the highest since January, and although it then fell back to $85,824, its breakout significance was established. Glassnode's analysis indicates that after a 300-day downward cycle, the Bitcoin price is finally above all long-term moving averages, and the current transaction price is higher than the real market average and the short-term holding cost benchmark. This is seen as a key sign to distinguish a strong bullish trend from a weak market.

At the same time, on-chain activity has accelerated markedly. According to data compiled by Woofun AI, more than 1 million bitcoins have been transferred in the past week, with a total value of over $92 billion. This transaction volume hit the highest level in four years, and even surpassed the popularity of transactions when Bitcoin peaked in October 2025. Bitview's data further corroborates this phenomenon, showing that large sums of money are being actively rearranged, and market liquidity is being explosively released after a long period of precipitation.

Structural changes in the derivatives market have revealed the deep driving force behind this round of gains. Previously, the $82,000-$86,000 range had accumulated a large number of shorting chips due to multiple failed rallies, forming solid resistance. Once a breakthrough is achieved, short stop-loss purchases form positive feedback. CoinGlass data shows that more than $1 billion of short positions were erased during this rapid breakout. Alphractal CEO Joao Wedson pointed out that the rebound hit the largest shorted clearing area in the past year. Unlike previous long leverage, which was heavily liquidated, the current adjustments have turned risk appetite towards bulls.

Alphractal estimates that currently, bulls account for about 71% and bears account for only 29%. This gap is the largest since Bitcoin hit an all-time high in October 2025, indicating that the leverage structure that supports price breakthroughs has fundamentally reversed. Glassnode added that long leverage in the options market is gradually picking up, and the bearish-to-bullish ratio is rising, but the level of positions is still far below the extreme state of speculation at the previous peak, and perpetual contract financing rates remain neutral. Activity in the broader derivatives market resumed rapidly, and Santiment data showed that despite short liquidations, the total volume of open contracts in the entire cryptocurrency market grew 7.6% to about $156 billion, and trading volume increased 39%. This indicates that traders quickly rebuild their positions after price pressure is under pressure, rather than completely deleveraging.

As Bitcoin approaches $90,000, market sentiment and options layout are key variables that determine the next trend. Santiment notes that the intensity of bullish rhetoric about the Bitcoin and crypto markets has reached its highest level since 2024, and the Fear and Greed Index is evolving in the direction of extreme greed.

This optimism is particularly evident in the Deribit options market: the $90,000 execution price open contract is worth about $2.7 billion, the $95,000 execution price contract is also worth $2.7 billion, the $100,000 execution price contract is worth about $2.3 billion, and the total value of the three execution price positions is as high as $7.7 billion. At current prices, Bitcoin only needed to rise less than 5% to reach $90,000, making it the focus of the market. Although the open position contract includes both the buyer and seller, and it is impossible to directly determine the rise or fall, it clearly shows that traders focused their risk on this after clearing the $86,000 area short. Previously, the rise mainly relied on mechanical buying with bears' stop-loss, but now most of this power has been unleashed. Whether it can continue to break above $90,000 in the future depends on whether the new capital can support the reconstructed multi-leveraged structure. As bullish sentiment rises and options holdings increase, the market pattern has become more and more fragile. Traders' concerns have shifted from whether they can break through the range to upward space after breaking through, and any fluctuation may trigger a new chain reaction.