The immediate catalyst was a brutal $80 million short liquidation event. Bitcoin's sharp surge to an intraday peak of $69,401 triggered a cascade of forced selling from leveraged bearish positions, providing a powerful, flow-driven pop. That single event was part of a much larger, systemic deleveraging. Across all major crypto futures markets, over $272 million in positions were forcibly closed in a 24-hour period.

3/5/2026 08:55pm