Best Day Since February and Largest Short Liquidation in History: Experts on the Crypto Market Rally

Published: August 20, 2026 – 11:24 UTC

Bitcoin rose to $72,000 for the first time since early June, while Ethereum climbed to $2,300.
Experts pointed to positive signals for the leading cryptocurrency, including a breakout above $66,600 and the strongest one-day upward move in years.

On August 19, 2026, bitcoin rose to $72,000 for the first time since early June. Ethereum also posted a sharp rally, reaching $2,300.

The move came amid statements by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding the cryptocurrency market. Read more in the article:

The Market Saw a Massive Short Squeeze

Analysts highlighted a record volume of short-position liquidations. In particular, expert Darkfost said it was bitcoin’s best day since February 2026. According to him, this happened thanks to a short squeeze. Notably, over the past 24 hours, more than $3 billion in short positions were liquidated across the crypto market.

The strongest move was on Binance. The exchange accounts for nearly 36% of bitcoin open interest. In just a few hours, more than $311 million in short positions were liquidated there — the most powerful short squeeze since the launch of bitcoin futures, the expert noted.

Bull Theory called the event the largest short liquidation in cryptocurrency history. According to their data, short positions took $3 billion in losses in a single day, while the crypto market’s capitalization increased by $236 billion.

A Different Picture Is Emerging on the Ethereum Network

Santiment pointed to differing dynamics in bitcoin and Ethereum balances on cryptocurrency exchanges.

Ethereum exchange balances keep falling while Bitcoin’s came back. Over the same three weeks, the two majors went opposite ways.

$ETH supply on exchanges has dropped from ~7.70M on Jun 2 to ~6.54M on Aug 18, about 1.15M coins off exchanges, roughly 15% in eleven weeks.

… pic.twitter.com/1HH7M9Hf33
— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) August 19, 2026

From June 2 to August 18, the amount of Ethereum on exchanges fell from roughly 7.70 million to 6.54 million coins. That is a drop of about 15%, or 1.15 million ETH. At the same time, from July 28 to August 18, exchange BTC reserves rose by around 1.8% — about 23,000 BTC returned to exchanges.

Santiment notes that a significant amount of Ethereum remains in staking, while corporate holders are accumulating the asset. In particular, BitMine holds nearly 5% of the asset’s total supply, with most of its coins staked.

Experts See Potential for Further Growth

CZ said that major market moves often start with subtle signals, and by the time most participants notice them, the price has already managed to make a significant jump.

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek called the move a reminder that crypto bear markets do not last forever.

Today should serve as a great reminder for everyone that crypto bear markets don’t last forever.
— Kris (@kris) August 20, 2026

Meanwhile, Glassnode called bitcoin’s latest move exceptional by historical standards. The last time a daily gain of a similar magnitude was seen was in February, but back then it was a rebound after a 14% drop.

*Bitcoin’s biggest rise since February. Infographic: Incrypted.*

Earlier, market analyst Axel Kibar pointed to the formation of an inverted head-and-shoulders pattern on the bitcoin chart. Its resistance line was located near $66,600. A confirmed breakout above this level, in his view, opens the way to $76,000.

As a reminder, earlier experts called the idea of “catching the bitcoin bottom” misguided.

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Source: Incrypted