Bitcoin keeps rising, and traders betting against it are losing big

Bitcoin just hit another high, crossing $80, 000 briefly before settling around $79, 850. In just one day, traders lost over $370 million as prices surged, with most of the damage coming from bets that the price would fall. These "short" traders got caught off guard when the market moved up instead of down, forcing them to close their positions at a loss. Bitcoin alone wiped out $179 million in shorts, while ether traders lost $95 million. The biggest single loss was an $11. 77 million short on Binance. This isn’t the first time this has happened recently. Just two weeks ago, a similar spike cost shorts over half a billion dollars. The pattern is becoming clear: when shorts dominate the market, even a small upward move can trigger a violent unwinding. Funding rates for bitcoin have mostly been negative all month, meaning shorts have been paying longs just to keep their bets open. When prices rise, those forced payments make the squeeze even worse.

Most major cryptocurrencies followed bitcoin’s lead. Ether, XRP, BNB, and Solana all saw gains, but Dogecoin stood out, jumping 3. 5% in a day and 14. 3% over the week. Its recent surge lines up with a spike in trading activity last week. Meanwhile, U. S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw their best month since October 2025, pulling in nearly $2 billion in April. Ether ETFs, on the other hand, saw outflows for the first time in weeks. Analysts are watching closely to see if bitcoin can hold above $85, 000. Right now, the price is testing key levels where long-term trends could shift. Some traders are optimistic, but others want to see stronger confirmation before calling it a full breakout. Open interest in bitcoin futures has jumped, meaning more traders are getting involved, but not all markets are balanced. Privacy coins like Zcash and Monero show signs of overheated trading, raising the risk of sharp reversals. Options markets, however, suggest traders aren’t panicking. Volatility remains low, and demand for downside protection has dropped, meaning fewer people are betting on a crash. This calm could be a sign of steady growth—or just the calm before another storm.

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