BTC’s latest breakout didn’t just set new records, it wiped out tens of thousands of traders in one of the most brutal short squeezes the market has seen in years.

Fueled by rising momentum and institutional demand, Bitcoin (BTC) has been on the rise over the past few days, surging to a new all-time high of $118,000.

The uptrend forced a massive wave of liquidations across the market, with short sellers taking the biggest hit. According to CoinGlass, more than $1 billion in short positions were wiped out in the past 24 hours alone, marking the largest daily liquidation event in four years.

Over 232,000 traders were affected. Bitcoin shorts made up the largest share, with $570 million wiped out, while Ether (ETH) shorts added another $206.9 million as ETH climbed to $3,000. Altcoins weren’t spared either, with dozens of high-leverage positions crushed as prices surged across the board.

The scale of the squeeze lit up liquidation heatmaps across major exchanges, with lots of high-leverage trades getting wiped out as prices broke past key levels. The biggest single loss was $88.55 million on HTX, and Binance saw about 5,000 BTC liquidated.

With BTC now holding close to $118,000, analysts say the rally will continue. The spike in liquidations comes on the back of strong fundamentals. Institutional inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have soared, macro sentiment is improving, and risk appetite across markets is broadening. 

Together, these factors are strengthening bullish conviction. Weighing in on the performance Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley forecasts that the positive trend will continue. He believes that Bitcoin is “detaching from the $100,000 range,” predicting that the asset could reach up to $200,000 by year end.