Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP rise as $400 million in shorts are liquidated

Bitcoin rose above $85,000 on Monday for the first time in nine months, liquidating more than $400 million in leveraged short positions. The Kobeissi Letter posted on X that the short positions were wiped out in four hours and described the move as a classic squeeze that accelerated an already strong rally. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $593 million over Thursday and Friday last week. The inflows fully reversed earlier weekly outflows and left the week with a modest net inflow, according to SoSoValue. CoinDesk reported that oil helped fuel the rally as Brent crude fell for a fourth consecutive session, its longest losing streak in three months. Diplomatic signals between Washington and Tehran pointed toward easing tensions. Donald Trump told Fox News that he would probably meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at this week's UN General Assembly. Bitcoin broke out of a descending triangle on Monday, reaching $84,220 and touching $85,257 intraday. The $85,257 level was described as Bitcoin's highest level since a September 3 high near $82,700. Bitcoin's relative strength index reached 70.19, its strongest reading since early September, which the analysis said indicated genuine momentum rather than a weak retest. The analysis identified resistance at $85,257 and support at $81,000 for a breakout retest and $75,559 for the SAR indicator. XRP rose 5.5% after breaking above a symmetrical triangle that had compressed its price for five weeks. Its entire exponential moving average stack was below the price and acting as support. XRP resistance was identified at $1.55 to $1.56, described as the August supply zone, with support at $1.37 at the 20-day exponential moving average. Ethereum rose 2.5% to $2,714 after clearing the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement of its October 2025 to January 2026 decline and its long descending trendline from the $3,396 high in that move. Ethereum resistance was identified at $2,990 at the 0.786 Fibonacci level, with support at $2,672 for a breakout retest.