Short Liquidations Drive Bitcoin Near $82,000; $90K in View
More than $7.9 billion in forced Bitcoin short liquidations since early February, including $737 million on Feb. 13 and $175 million on May 4, helped lift BTC toward $81,500.
Researcher Axel Adler Jr. tracked more than $7.9 billion in forced Bitcoin short liquidations since early February. The liquidations came in three waves from February through April and continued into early May, including a $737 million spike on Feb. 13 and $175 million on May 4.
Adler’s trend pulse model moved from bear into neutral in early April. Short-term momentum has turned positive while longer-term confirmation depends on a bullish crossover of the 30-day and 200-day simple moving averages. Adler wrote: “Each major liquidation wave formed while the trend pulse sat in neutral mode,” and he reported traders repeatedly reloaded short positions as price consolidated.
Market analyst Coin Niel reported net BTC exchange outflows of 837 BTC on May 5, smaller than the 6,590 BTC outflow earlier that week. Funding rates across derivatives markets remain near -0.0045, indicating active short-side pressure while long positions are not heavily crowded. Open interest across exchanges rose about 6% to roughly $29 billion, its highest level since late January.
On the charts, Bitcoin broke above a descending trendline that capped rallies through April. The 100-day exponential moving average now sits just below the current price and is acting as dynamic support. Bitcoin traded near $81,500, a level aligned with the short-term holder cost basis.
Analysts identify an upside range from about $86,000 to $90,000 that corresponds to a prior supply zone where sellers previously capped recoveries. Below current levels, the $76,000–$78,000 band is cited as the first demand zone, supported by recent buying and a developed daily fair-value gap.
Crypto trader KriptoHolder flagged concentrated liquidation clusters around $81,000–$82,000 for shorts and $77,000–$78,000 for longs. Data indicate roughly $1.12 billion in cumulative short positions at risk near $82,500, compared with more than $4.2 billion in long positions vulnerable near $77,000.
Short squeezes occur when rising prices force leveraged short traders to close positions and liquidations add buy pressure that can accelerate price moves.
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