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.

Attackers behind the Binance breach converted stolen stablecoins into Ether via Aave, while Tether and Circle moved to block billions in assets.