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Bitcoin Short Squeeze: $283M in Liquidations and a $90K Target
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Short Squeeze: $283M in Liquidations and a $90K Target

April 17, 20262 min read

Bitcoin hit $75,000 on April 17 after a massive short squeeze. The market liquidated more than $283 million in positions within hours, mostly short ones. Large holders have been accumulating heavily at the same time. Whales bought 20 times more BTC over the past 30 days than miners produce daily.

Situation: BTC is consolidating between $73,000 and $75,500. The futures funding rate has stayed negative even after the price spike. The market seems to doubt its own rally.

$283M in Liquidations Overnight

Short traders opened positions expecting a drop, but the price went up - and their positions were force-closed. That mechanism alone pushed BTC sharply above $74,000 without meaningful real demand from spot markets.

Total liquidations over 24 hours hit $283 million, with the majority coming from short positions. That is roughly double a typical quiet-market day. A short squeeze by itself does not guarantee the move continues, though.

Whales Absorbed 20x the Daily Mining Output

On-chain data shows that large wallets holding 1,000 or more Bitcoin absorbed a volume 20 times greater than the daily mining output over the past 30 days. After April's halving, miners produce about 450 BTC per day. Whales were pulling roughly 9,000 BTC off the market each day on average.

That kind of supply-demand imbalance often comes before a strong upward move. Bitcoin has entered the breakout stage of a classic bullish reversal pattern, according to technical analysts.

Bitcoin: Key Metrics, April 17, 2026
Price~$74,500
24h Liquidations$283M
Whale Accumulation (30 days)20x daily output
Analyst Price Target$90,000
Funding RateNegative

Three Signals Needed to Hold Above $76,000

Analysts pointed to three specific signals for a sustained move. Without them, any push higher stays fragile.

  • Price reclaiming $76,000 and holding that level for several sessions in a row
  • Real spot volume growth, not just spikes from liquidations
  • Steady net inflows into Bitcoin ETFs

Until those conditions are met, the market stays shaky. The short squeeze lifted the price, but spot buyers have not joined the move yet.

Negative Funding Rate: Risk or Opportunity

Futures traders are still betting more on a drop than a rise - even with BTC trading above $75,000. In this environment, every new wave of buying can trigger another liquidation cascade for shorts.

Part of the market sees this as an edge. If spot demand picks up, things could shift into self-sustaining growth. If not, the bulls may be walking into another trap.

$90,000: A Real Target

The technical picture looks bullish right now. Analysts say that if whale accumulation holds and ETF inflows turn stable and positive, the $90,000 target is realistic within the next few weeks.

Markets do not move in a straight line, though. A pullback often follows a short squeeze, and the real question now - will buyers show up in the $70,000-$73,000 range. Anyone looking to buy Bitcoin for hryvnias may want to watch that zone closely.

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