Bitcoin's $63K Reclaim Liquidates $540M in Crypto Shorts, a 7-Week High

A portion of last week’s selloff has come undone as Bitcoin bounced over the weekend, triggering a huge chunk of late shorts.

Bitcoin recovered to highs of $63,800 Monday, up roughly 7.5% from Saturday’s $59,353 low, according to CoinGecko data. The cryptocurrency is currently trading at around $63,350, up 2.4% on the day.

Bitcoin’s bounce liquidated $539 million in crypto short positions on Sunday, the highest level since the April 17 crash, according to CoinGlass data. Over the past 24 hours, total crypto liquidations surpassed $588 million, of which $444 million were short positions.

The selloff wasn’t localized to cryptocurrencies. The S&P 500 index dropped 2.90% on Friday and is down roughly 2.70% from its all-time high of 7,632. South Korea’s KOSPI index’s over 8% drop on Monday triggered a circuit breaker.

“Large outflows last week reflected institutional reactions to macroeconomic headlines, while the tech-heavy KOSPI’s 8% decline highlights the broader pressure facing risk assets amid escalating developments in the Middle East,” Paul Howard, Senior Director, Wincent, told Decrypt.

Bitcoin’s aggregated open interest, or total open positions, hovers around 255,000 $BTC after the weekend bounce, plummeting from Friday’s 285,000 $BTC high, signaling a short squeeze or an en masse closure of short positions as price moves against these investors, further fueling the recovery, according to Velo data.

The aggregated spot and perpetual cumulative volume delta, representing the difference between buying and selling pressure, has ticked up since Friday’s low, indicating an increase in demand across both spot and perpetuals.

The Coinbase premium index, which measures the demand from U.S investors, has improved from last week’s -0.048 reading to -0.035. The metric remains negative, a sign that U.S. demand has yet to return.

Looking ahead, however, the outlook remains largely bearish, experts told Decrypt.

What’s next for Bitcoin?

Despite Bitcoin’s weekend recovery to $63,000, the outlook remains largely bearish, with the Crypto Fear and Greed index sitting at 8, the lowest level since late February 2026.

Users of Myriad, a prediction market owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, echo that negative sentiment after the market flipped bearish last Tuesday, now placing a 73% chance on Bitcoin’s next move taking it to $55,000 instead of $85,000.

“With CME $BTC volatility currently trading around 50, a level reached only a handful of times over the past 12 months; I remain cautious that this rally is unlikely to prove sustainable,” Howard said.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs, which serve as a proxy for U.S. demand, saw $1.72 billion in outflows last week, according to SoSoValue data.

Last week’s sell-off pushed the leading crypto below its 200-day simple moving average, often considered a sign that the long-term bull trend is coming undone.

“When demand from the largest marginal buyers fades like that, long-term levels come under pressure regardless of any single seller,” Adam Haeems, Head of Asset Management, Tesseract Group, told Decrypt.

“U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw their fastest withdrawals on record, around $4.4 billion over thirteen consecutive sessions, while a stronger-than-expected payrolls report pushed US rate expectations toward a possible hike rather than the cuts the market had priced, and capital rotated toward AI equities and a heavy listings calendar,” Haeems said.

The Tesseract Group expert remains cautious, suggesting that the weekend rebound is a “relief move around a major long-term level, not yet a confirmed turn.”