Ethereum surges 6% to $2,719 after Bitcoin-led short squeeze wipes out $700M

Ethereum ripped 6% higher on September 21, touching $2,719 and punching through a Fibonacci resistance level at $2,672 that had capped rallies for months. The move wasn’t born in a vacuum. Bitcoin’s surge above $85,000 lit the fuse, and a mountain of leveraged short positions supplied the fuel. The result was one of the most violent short squeezes of 2026, with more than $700 million in total crypto liquidations over 24 hours. The squeeze mechanics According to CoinGlass data, roughly $313 million in crypto positions were liquidated in a single hour during the peak of the rally. Of those, 96% were short bets. Ethereum-specific short liquidations had already been building before the big day. Around September 18, when ETH first cleared $2,600, approximately $85 million in ETH shorts were wiped out as part of a broader $470 million liquidation event across crypto markets. By the time Bitcoin punched through $85,000, hitting a session high of $85,257, the remaining short interest was dangerously exposed. ETF inflows add a structural bid US spot ETH exchange-traded funds recorded net inflows of $143.8 million around September 18, adding a layer of persistent buying pressure that doesn’t...