Bitcoin Hits $118K Milestone, Dumps Over $1B in Short Exposures

Bitcoin ascended rapidly past $118,000 today, fueling a record-breaking short squeeze that liquidated more than $1 billion in bearish trades across major platforms .

🔥 Flash points:

• Over $1.13 billion in crypto positions were liquidated within 24 hours, with $1.01 billion wiped out from short bets, making it the steepest short‑liquidation event of 2025 .
• The largest blow: an $88.5 million BTC‑USDT short closed on HTX. Bybit led crypto exposures with $461 million cleaned out, 93% of which were shorts .
• Ethereum futures also suffered, with $241 million in liquidations .

📌 Key stats:

• The rally began after BTC surpassed its previous high (~$112K), sparking mass exits and buy‑ins .
• BTC’s dominance over ETH climbed back to 62.6%, and Ethereum rallied to ~$3,000 amid its own $258 million liquidation wave .

🌐 Why this matters:

• Whale wipeouts: Major leveraged positions by players like James Wynn (40× short) and @qwatio were liquidated, underscoring the dangers of high leverage .
• Momentum shift: Rapid deleveraging created a vacuum that propelled BTC further, but future upside depends on new capital entering the market.
• Institutional spotlight: The rally from $70K to $118K reflects growing institutional and ETF interest, moving BTC toward Wall Street‑style dynamics .