Bitcoin headlines shifted to focus on a short squeeze on Wednesday, November 4, as BTC finished above $80,000 for the initial time following the October 29 Binance hack. A sudden surge at the opening of the US stock market compelled traders to unwind $468.5 million in short positions. Bitcoin is currently changing hands at $80,550, marking a 2.7% increase over 24 hours. The ETH/USD pair performed even stronger, advancing 4.4% to $2,427.
This upward momentum unfolded in two phases. BTC climbed from $78,321 at 14:30 UTC—coinciding with the New York market open—to $79,559 within 15 minutes, before pushing further to $81,196 by 15:15 UTC. Earlier that same day, the asset had dipped to $75,736, making Wednesday’s total trading range greater than 7%.
The majority of the caught traders had placed bets on a market decline. This dynamic is significant because a price surge driven entirely by forced short covering can quickly lose steam once that buying pressure ceases.
Bitcoin is resilient.
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) November 4, 2026
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How Big Was the Short Squeeze?
According to CoinGlass data, total cryptocurrency futures liquidations reached $715.6 million over a 24-hour window, with short positions accounting for 65.5% of that figure, or $468.5 million. In total, 99,879 traders experienced liquidations.
Liquidation Heatmap
Bitcoin front-ran the liquidations with $267.1 million wiped out, 93.4% of which represented shorts. Ether followed with $197.5 million in liquidations, where 58.1% were short bets. Binance processed 39.3% of all liquidations.
Conversely, the single largest individual order moved in the opposite direction: a $38 million Ether long position was liquidated on HTX at a price of $2,429.33, closely mirroring current trading levels for ETH.
On OKX, open interest for Bitcoin futures expanded to $3.88 billion during the rally, subsequently contracting to $3.74 billion by midnight UTC. Such a reduction indicates that traders were actively closing out existing positions rather than establishing new ones.
Overall sentiment has not turned bullish. The proportion of long-to-short BTC accounts on OKX dropped from 1.84 at 11:00 UTC on Wednesday down to 1.52 by Thursday morning, showing that a greater number of accounts are currently betting against the ongoing rally.
Bitcoin News Today: BTC Price Analysis
BTC is currently hovering right above its 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $80,006 and its 50-day EMA at $80,166, establishing the $80,000 threshold as both a psychological milestone and an initial layer of support.
BTCUSDT 1D chart. Source: TradingView
| Outlook | Trigger | Level to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Rebound | A daily close above the October 29 high at $81,971 | $84,898, the October 21 high |
| Holding pattern | Price stays between $80,000 and $81,971 | Range trading around $80,600 |
| Sell-off | A daily close back below $80,000 | $77,910, the October 29 low, then $75,736 |
The $81,971 marker marks where Bitcoin traded prior to the emergence of the Binance hack reports. Successfully reclaiming this mark would effectively erase the hack-induced sell-off from the charts.
Meanwhile, options traders remain untroubled by the movements. Deribit’s DVOL index, which measures projected 30-day volatility for Bitcoin, ticked down to 36.9 from Wednesday’s reading of 38.
The primary development to monitor in upcoming Bitcoin news is whether spot market buyers will step forward now that short covering has decelerated. In the absence of genuine spot demand, the $80,000 line will determine whether this price action constitutes a true breakout or merely a transient squeeze.
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