On January 24, 2026, at 8:00 AM UTC+8, the price of Bitcoin strongly broke through the $91,000 mark on several mainstream trading platforms, while Ethereum simultaneously returned to and stabilized above $3,000, and Solana also surpassed $130, forming a collective upward trend among mainstream assets. Parallel to the price hitting new highs was the severe liquidation in the derivatives market: according to Coinglass data, the total liquidation across the network exceeded $303 million within 24 hours, with approximately $149 million liquidated in just one hour, the vast majority of which came from short positions. The gradual price increase combined with the brutal exit of short positions exposed the current market's high reliance on leverage, with emotions and expectations being extremely stretched; any sustained volatility in either direction could trigger a new round of chain liquidations and emotional amplification.
Three Major Cryptocurrencies Soar Past Key Psychological Levels
● BTC Breakthrough Performance: According to data from platforms like HTX, OKX, Bitget, Bitcoin broke through the $91,000/USDT integer mark during the day, with a 24-hour increase roughly in the range of 1.3%-2.13%. There were slight discrepancies in high point quotes and increase calculations across different platforms, but the direction was highly consistent. Compared to traditional "linear surges," this round seemed more like a slow rise at high levels confirming the integer mark, significantly impacting the large amount of short sentiment that had been pressing around the $90,000 mark.
● ETH Upward Movement: Ethereum's price broke through and stood above the $3,000/USDT psychological level on the same trading day, with a 24-hour increase of about 1.61%-2.25%. Several Chinese information platforms cited market data to report this action simultaneously, making the upward movement logic between ETH and BTC clearer: on one hand, benefiting from the overall warming of risk appetite, and on the other hand, after BTC reached a new high, the expectation for funds to "catch up" with other mainstream assets significantly increased.
● SOL Continues Strong Performance: Solana's price broke through $130 USDT that day, continuing its relatively strong performance in the recent mainstream public chain track. According to data from sources like Odaily Planet Daily, SOL's breakthrough at the key price level completed the collective narrative of the three representative assets "BTC-ETH-SOL" passing their key levels, further strengthening the technical structure of the overall upward movement of mainstream public chain assets, expanding the market's imagination for "a new round of mainstream market diffusion."
● Consistency Across Multiple Platforms: From the comparison of price and increase data, the performance of mainstream spot and contract platforms was generally aligned, with only slight deviations in specific points, highest price records, and increase calculation standards. This high overlap of multi-source data, on one hand, reduced disputes caused by "abnormal quotes from a single platform," and on the other hand, provided a more solid cross-validation basis for media reporting on "breaking through the key levels of 91,000/3,000/130."
$149 Million Liquidation in One Hour as a Leverage Warning
● Short-term Liquidation Scale: According to Coinglass data, during BTC's breakthrough of $91,000, the network recorded approximately $149 million in liquidations within 1 hour, with short positions accounting for about $146 million, indicating an extreme imbalance in the long-short ratio. This means that within a short time window, the vast majority of liquidated leveraged positions were short traders betting on a price decline, who were forced to close their positions at market price during the gradual price rise, further intensifying the upward momentum.
● 24-hour Liquidation Overview: Observing over a 24-hour dimension, Coinglass statistics show that the total liquidation amount across the network was approximately $303 million, involving 105,156 traders. This data outlines the current high-leverage state of the derivatives market from both the capital and participant numbers: a large number of participants, a fragile position structure, and extreme sensitivity to short-term price deviations, triggering mass liquidations with even slight adverse fluctuations.
● Short-Dominated Liquidation Structure: From a structural distribution perspective, this round of liquidations was almost entirely dominated by the short side, with short positions occupying an absolute majority in the one-hour liquidation scale. A large number of short positions were continuously hit by stop-loss and liquidation lines above key price levels, forming a combined effect of "passive short covering + forced buying," which is often not based on new active buying but rather stems from the systemic imbalance of existing leveraged positions.
● Resonance of Liquidation and Volatility: Concentrated liquidations amplified the volatility of the market, causing prices to exhibit a "rise—acceleration—expansion" chain reaction when breaking through key levels. Meanwhile, the liquidation data reflected the market's high divergence regarding the upward price direction: on one side were leveraged shorts holding onto "high-level correction" expectations, while on the other side were funds increasing leverage to chase the trend, with both sides engaging in fierce competition in a short time, ultimately visually represented through liquidation data on-chain and at the exchange level.
Gradual Price Increase Triggers High-Leverage Chain Reaction
● Increase Not Extreme: In absolute terms, BTC's daily increase of 1.3%-2.13% and ETH's 1.61%-2.25% rise are difficult to classify as "explosive" in traditional terms, and even in the context of past bull market samples, they belong to relatively mild single-day fluctuations. However, this seemingly smooth price curve triggered over $303 million in liquidations at the derivatives level, reflecting the "amplifier" effect of price on the leverage structure.
● High-Leverage Shorts Concentrated: The reason why moderate increases can lead to severe liquidations lies in the accumulation of a large number of high-leverage short positions near key price levels. These shorts often use small margins to seek high profit-loss ratios, and once prices linger above integer levels or rise slowly, margin usage and unrealized losses quickly erode their safety margins, making accounts extremely sensitive to minor fluctuations.
● Psychological Levels Trigger Chain Mechanisms: When BTC broke through $91,000, ETH stood above $3,000, and SOL crossed $130, it not only formed a technical breakthrough but also psychologically breached a batch of short sellers' "defenses." Some traders passively added margin as they approached key levels, while others triggered chain stop-losses, liquidations, and passive buying due to insufficient account equity, ultimately forming a stampede-like "short reverse accumulation," accelerating the pace of price correction upward.
● Structural Short Squeeze Rather Than Violent Surge: Combining the price curve and liquidation data, this round of upward movement appears more like a structural short squeeze rather than a simple violent surge relying on new funds. Prices gradually rose at high levels, while leverage concentrated and broke in key intervals, frequently triggering the exchange's automatic liquidation mechanisms, converting originally shorted chips into passive buying, still managing to push prices to confirm new highs without significant external large capital inflows.
Chinese Market Collective Buzz and Emotional Resonance
● Media Simultaneous Push: During the period when prices broke through key levels, several Chinese crypto media outlets, including Golden Finance, BlockBeats, Odaily Planet Daily, almost simultaneously pushed news such as "BTC breaks $91,000, ETH returns to $3,000, SOL stands at $130." This multi-platform, high-frequency burst of news rapidly amplified and spread the market changes within communities and among retail investors.
● "Mainstream Coins Passing Together" Narrative Takes Shape: Multi-source reports coincidentally emphasized the imagery of "BTC-ETH-SOL and other mainstream assets simultaneously breaking through integer levels," reinforcing the narrative framework of "a new round of mainstream market fully starting." For retail investors, whose information mainly comes from news platforms and social media, this narrative is more impactful than a single asset's technical breakthrough, easily interpreted as "the entire track resonating upward."
● Subtle Price Differences as Side Validation: Different media outlets may present slightly different prices and increases when citing data sources, such as BTC's 24-hour increase marked as 1.3%-2.13% and ETH as 1.61%-2.25%, but the direction is unified and the divergence is limited. This public presentation of differences serves as a form of "cross-validation" for readers, proving that the breakthrough is not an isolated abnormal quote from a single platform, thereby enhancing the credibility of the market.
● Public Opinion and Data Amplify FOMO: When new price highs, liquidation numbers, and media news simultaneously appear in the information flow, investors are easily prone to FOMO emotions: on one hand, seeing shorts being continuously liquidated leads to the belief that "shorting is unsafe"; on the other hand, driven by the narrative of "mainstream coins collectively breaking through," they are more willing to participate in the market by increasing leverage and buying at higher prices. This resonance of emotions and data may further elevate the short-term market's leverage participation and volatility risk.
CZ's Pardon Combined with Positive Sentiment but Difficult to Quantify
● The Event Itself: The recent news of Binance founder CZ being pardoned by former U.S. President Trump has sparked widespread discussion in the global crypto market, becoming an important emotional clue beyond the price breakthrough nodes. For investors who have long been concerned about compliance risks and the safety of leading platforms, this event is generally viewed as a symbolic signal of a softening regulatory environment.
● Statements Emotionally Interpreted: In an interview with CNBC, CZ mentioned feeling "more free in the past three months," and such personal feelings have been amplified and emotionally interpreted by some investors in the community as a symbol of "bad news being exhausted" and "regulatory pressure being temporarily alleviated," psychologically enhancing optimistic expectations for the future of the crypto industry.
● Pathways to Strengthen Emotional Expectations: The CZ pardon event objectively helps to reinforce market expectations that "regulatory clouds have eased" and "overall risks of leading platforms are controllable." For users relying on centralized trading platforms, once concerns about systemic risks at the platform level decrease, risk appetite often rises in tandem, which may invisibly provide emotional support and funding willingness for the upward movement of mainstream assets.
● Causal Relationship Difficult to Disprove: It is important to emphasize that there is currently a lack of directly quantifiable evidence to establish a strict causal link between CZ's pardon and BTC's surge to $91,000. The more directly visible drivers of price increases remain the squeezing of the leverage structure, technical breakthroughs of mainstream assets, and the rebalancing of funds among different assets. The CZ event plays more of a role as an emotional catalyst rather than a precisely measurable single price driver.
Opportunities and Stampedes in the High-Leverage Tug-of-War
With BTC standing at $91,000, and ETH and SOL simultaneously breaking through $3,000 and $130, it marks the overall entry of mainstream crypto assets into a new price range, while also pushing the market into a high-leverage, high-volatility "long-short meat grinder." The liquidation data clearly shows that whether it is the instantaneous liquidation of $149 million in one hour or the $303 million in 24 hours, with over 100,000 traders passively exiting, it indicates that the leverage chain is highly stretched, and any sustained volatility in either direction could trigger a new wave of liquidations. In an environment where narratives and emotions are clearly bullish, and media coverage reinforces optimistic expectations, rational trading should not focus solely on the "price hitting new highs" dimension, but rather on the dynamic changes in leverage ratios, liquidation rhythms, and funding structures. Viewing liquidation and funding data as a risk thermometer, adopting a more flexible and layered strategy in position management and leverage usage may be more suitable for the current high-stakes game phase where opportunities and stampedes coexist.
Join our community to discuss and grow stronger together!
Official Telegram community: https://t.me/aicoincn
AiCoin Chinese Twitter: https://x.com/AiCoinzh
OKX Benefits Group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=l61eM4owQ
Binance Benefits Group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=ynr7d1P6Z
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
