Bitcoin breaks $69,000 as short sellers get squeezed for $196 million

Bitcoin punched through $69,000 on April 6, climbing roughly 3% to around $69,120 as traders came back from Easter weekend and found themselves staring at a market that had turned decisively against short sellers. The move marked Bitcoin’s highest price in more than a week and triggered a cascade of liquidations that wiped out nearly $196 million in bearish positions over 24 hours. About $100 million of that damage happened in a brutal 90-minute window. The mechanics of the squeeze Short squeezes in crypto work like a pressure cooker. Traders borrow Bitcoin to sell it, betting the price will drop so they can buy it back cheaper. When the price moves against them instead, their positions get forcibly closed, which means buying Bitcoin at market price. That buying pressure pushes the price higher, which liquidates more shorts, which pushes the price higher still. The catalyst this time around appears to have been optimism surrounding potential ceasefire talks involving Iran. Geopolitical de-escalation tends to push risk assets higher, and Bitcoin has increasingly traded like one, responding to the same macro signals that move equities and commodities. Traders returning from the Easte...