Bitcoin retraces to $77,000, triggering $547M in liquidations

Bitcoin slid from $79,500 to $77,000 in a move that vaporized $547 million in crypto positions. The retrace, while modest in percentage terms, landed squarely on the most leveraged corner of the market and turned a routine pullback into a liquidation event that ranks among the more painful episodes of 2026. A short squeeze sets the stage To understand why a 3% dip caused this much carnage, you have to zoom out. Bitcoin had been on a tear throughout August, rallying from lows around $64,000 to $65,000 earlier in the month to briefly touch $79,500. That climb liquidated between $1 billion and $3.5 billion in short positions over various 24-hour windows as bearish traders were systematically squeezed out of their positions. The $547 million in liquidations tied to the retrace around $77,000 aligned closely with 12-hour data during the spike, according to CoinGlass and other derivatives data aggregators. On platforms like Hyperliquid, individual liquidation events ranged from $23 million to $48 million per trade across various sessions. When Bitcoin finally paused its ascent and pulled back, traders who had piled into long positions near the top found themselves underwater. The retrace...