Bitcoin retests $82,000 as $20 million in leveraged shorts get liquidated

A return to a heavily watched price level squeezed bearish traders after weeks of pain that mostly hit the bulls Bitcoin retested $82,000, and the move cost leveraged short sellers $20 million in liquidations. A short is a bet that price will fall. Add leverage, and that bet is made with borrowed money that an exchange can pull the moment the trade moves against you. When Bitcoin pushed back toward $82,000, some of those positions hit their liquidation thresholds. Exchanges closed them automatically, wiping out $20 million in short exposure. Forced closures of shorts also mean forced buying. Each liquidated short has to be bought back, which can add a little fuel to the move that caused it in the first place.

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