Bitcoin Tops $85K for First Time Since January as Short Liquidations Surge

A sharp increase in liquidations added momentum to the rally. More than $750 million in crypto positions were liquidated over the previous 24 hours, with short positions accounting for $648.3 million, based on CoinGlass data cited by BitKE. Bitcoin positions made up $360.7 million of that total, including a single $11.3 million liquidation on Binance's BTCUSDT market.

The wider market advanced alongside Bitcoin. Ether climbed about 5.6% to around $2,717, XRP rose 7.8% to $1.49, and Solana gained 7.2% to about $115.75. The rally accompanied stronger global risk assets, with Asian and European equities and U.S. stock futures moving higher.

The recovery came days after crypto-linked equities rebounded from earlier losses. Following the Senate's September 15 failure to advance the CLARITY Act, a broader crypto market-structure bill, regulators moved ahead using existing authority. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued no-action relief for certain passive software providers, while the Securities and Exchange Commission introduced a five-year exemption for qualifying platforms facilitating on-chain trading of tokenized securities, according to BitKE. Strategy rose more than 13%, while Coinbase and American Bitcoin each gained about 11%, and Robinhood climbed nearly 9%.

Separately, CoinDesk reported that Strategy resumed its Bitcoin purchases, adding $75 million of BTC last week, its first week of buying in about three weeks.

The European Central Bank has introduced Pontes, a settlement system linking its payment infrastructure to blockchain-based markets, with full implementation targeted for 2028.