Bitcoin (BTC-USD, Financial) just flipped the script. After nearly two months of sideways drift, the world's largest cryptocurrency broke out—smashing through $118,000 and wiping out more than $1.29 billion in short positions in a single day, per Coinglass. That's the largest liquidation total of the year, with over 279,000 traders getting caught on the wrong side of the move. The biggest hit? An $88.5 million short squeeze on exchange HTX. SignalPlus partner Augustine Fan pointed out that the groundwork had been quietly building for weeks, and Thursday's surge was the release valve.
The timing was no coincidence. Just as U.S. President Donald Trump reignited trade fears with a fresh round of tariff threats, Bitcoin surged—and equities sank. By early Friday in London, BTC was eyeing $119,000, while Ether crossed $3,000 for the first time since February. ETFs tied to both tokens saw their second-largest daily inflows of the year on Thursday, adding another signal that institutional interest is picking back up. Meanwhile, options traders are starting to circle $150,000 strike prices, betting this breakout could have legs.
Behind the scenes, momentum is gathering from multiple fronts: fading volatility, retail buying pressure, and a drumbeat of policy shifts, including a new “Crypto Week” just announced by a U.S. Congressional committee. Even China—after four years of banning digital asset speculation—is rumored to be revisiting its stance. While it's too soon to declare a new supercycle, this latest divergence between crypto and traditional assets is sending a clear signal: investors may be rethinking where to find shelter in an increasingly noisy macro landscape.
