Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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BTC briefly touched the $76k level during the Asian trading session as the crypto market rally continues.
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The rally wiped out over $450 million worth of short positions in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin Hits $76k as Market Rally Continues
The cryptocurrency market began the week bullish, with Bitcoin hitting the $76k level during the early hours of Tuesday. The leading cryptocurrency by market cap has slightly retraced and now trades above $74,000 per coin.
The rally comes as spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded inflows of $767.33 million last week, following $568.45 million in positive flows the previous week.
Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, stated that,
"Institutional spot demand also appears to have returned. Consistent dip-buying and spot ETF net inflows over the past week point to healthier underlying demand and a more constructive structural backdrop."
The broader move was accompanied by roughly $609 million in total crypto liquidations in the past 24 hours, including $450 million in short positions.
JUST IN: $450,000,000 worth of crypto shorts liquidated in the past 24 hours.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) March 17, 2026
Furthermore, Michael Saylor’s Strategy disclosed that it acquired 22,337 Bitcoin (BTC) for approximately $1.57 billion last week, according to a Form 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.
The average purchase price in this latest round was $70,194 per BTC, including fees and expenses.
Strategy's total Bitcoin holdings now stand at 761,068 BTC, accumulated at an aggregate cost of $57.6 billion, representing an average purchase price of $75,696.
According to Zeus Research analyst Dominick John, the massive short liquidations fueled a squeeze-driven extension higher. However, the analyst is not optimistic about a long-term rally at the moment.
He told The Block that,
"Squeeze-driven moves are typically short-lived without sustained real demand, likely fading from days to a couple of weeks," John said.
Regardless, the current market sentiment shows signs of a recovery. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 28 in "fear" territory late Monday, moving out of "extreme fear" after lingering in that zone in recent weeks.
Cryptocurrency prices continue to surge despite oil prices climbing after briefly easing, rising more than 2% late Monday as uncertainty persisted over the U.S.-led coalition to secure shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump urged other countries to help address disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran curtailed traffic through the vital shipping route, which accounted for roughly one-fifth of global oil supply.
