Bitcoin briefly tops $84,000, liquidating $262.30 million in shorts

Bitcoin briefly crossed $84,000 on September 21, reaching that level for the first time since January 31. The move liquidated $262.30 million in short positions in one hour, according to CoinGlass. Bitcoin was trading at $83,869 at the time of writing, up 3.18% on the day. CoinGlass recorded $271.83 million in total crypto liquidations during the hour, including $9.53 million in long positions. Bitcoin accounted for $218.55 million of the hourly liquidations, followed by Ethereum at $26.47 million and Solana at $8.92 million. Liquidations reached $433.67 million over 12 hours and $599.15 million over 24 hours, affecting 127,304 traders. The largest single order was an $11.29 million Binance Bitcoin perpetual. XRP rose 7.04% over 24 hours, while Solana gained 6.67%. Zcash led the top 10 cryptocurrencies with a 33.50% weekly gain. Bitcoin also recorded its first weekly close above its 50-week moving average in 45 weeks. It ended the week of September 20 at $81,159, around 3% above the average near $78,786. Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy, said he reads the close as a key signal that the bear market low is in.