Bitcoin Rally Driven by Short Squeeze in Futures Market

A recent analysis by CryptoQuant revealed that the April 23 rally in Bitcoin's price was not driven by dominant spot demand, but rather by a short squeeze in the futures market. The analysis showed that open interest expanded sharply alongside the price increase, from $24.88 billion to approximately $28 billion.

This expansion of open interest and the resulting short liquidations totalled around $1.19 billion, indicating that the move was largely due to leveraged pressure in derivatives rather than solid spot validation. In contrast, long liquidations were much lower, with a total of around $111 million.