Physical Bitcoin coin on U.S. currency as Bitcoin retakes 81,000 dollars

Bitcoin Retakes $81,000 as a Short Squeeze Accelerates the Rebound

By Isaac • September 18, 2026 11:08 am • Comments

Bitcoin is back above $81,000, and this time the move came with enough force to punish traders who were leaning the wrong way.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency gained roughly 6% during Friday’s session, climbing through $80,000 as U.S. markets opened and traders reacted to rapidly changing oil, bond and risk-market conditions. Cointelegraph reported about $250 million in short positions liquidated in just four hours, adding a powerful mechanical bid as bearish positions were closed.

That forced buying helped turn an ordinary rebound into a much faster squeeze.

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Bitcoin briefly pushed beyond $81,000 after opening the day below that mark. The move also lifted Ether, XRP, Solana and other large-cap assets as risk appetite improved across the market.

Oil-supply anxiety remained the macro backdrop, while the 30-year Treasury yield reversed higher. Bitcoin’s ability to advance through that pressure put the focus on whether the rally could survive once forced liquidations slowed.

Price still faced the same overhead zones that had rejected earlier recovery attempts. Bulls therefore needed follow-through above the intraday spike and beyond the dramatic opening move.

The rally also arrived during an unusual cross-current in traditional markets. Long-dated U.S. Treasury yields moved higher as investors weighed global oil-supply concerns, yet Bitcoin rose alongside them.

Buyers absorbed that macro pressure after the market’s recent weakness. Now they must defend the recovery.

On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said Bitcoin had reclaimed its True Market Mean, a level it treats as an important dividing line between weaker and stronger market regimes. The firm also identified two nearby reference points: the aggregate cost basis of corporate Bitcoin treasuries around $80,000 and the exchange-traded fund cost basis near $85,000.

That sequence matters. Holding above the corporate treasury zone would give the latest bounce more support than a brief liquidation-driven spike.

A move toward $85,000 would test a level tied to a large pool of institutional demand. Failure to hold $80,000 would make the squeeze look much less convincing.

Decrypt also framed the move as a fresh short squeeze, highlighting how quickly liquidations can feed a rally when positioning becomes crowded. Forced buying can be powerful, but it is not the same thing as steady spot demand.

The next several sessions should reveal how much of this rebound remains once that mechanical fuel fades.

The publication also noted that traders were watching a familiar resistance band rather than treating the first break above $80,000 as final confirmation. That distinction is important because a squeeze can move price quickly without building the patient spot demand needed to hold a higher range.

The cleanest bullish case is now straightforward: Bitcoin holds above the reclaimed $80,000 area, spot buyers keep showing up, and price begins working through the resistance clustered near $85,000. The bearish case is just as clear: short covering exhausts itself and the market slips back below the level it just fought to recover.

For now, Bitcoin has done the first thing bulls needed. It took back a psychologically important number and forced bearish positioning to unwind.

The burden now shifts from the squeeze to real demand.

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