The cryptocurrency market witnessed a dramatic short squeeze on February 25, 2026, triggering violent price rallies in both Dogecoin (DOGE) and Bitcoin (BTC) and liquidating hundreds of millions of dollars in bearish positions across exchanges.
Dogecoin experienced a concentrated, explosive rally, with its price breaking through the key psychological barrier of $0.10 to reach a daily high of $0.1026 on Binance. This represented a surge of over 10% in a single day, breaking a period of stagnation where DOGE had been trading sideways between $0.095 and $0.098. The move was fueled by a massive wave of bear liquidations; data from CoinGlass reveals that in just one hour, $1.57 million in bearish DOGE positions were wiped out. Over the last 24 hours, short positions faced a total wipeout of $4.09 million, compared to minimal long position losses of just $119,640.
Analysts attribute the Dogecoin surge to a classic "short squeeze"—a phenomenon where exhausted supply and the forced closure of leveraged short futures contracts create a vertical price ascent. Despite the rally injecting renewed optimism among retail investors, technical indicators suggest the move may be more of a squeeze than a confirmed long-term trend reversal, as DOGE remains below key descending resistance levels on daily charts.
Simultaneously, Bitcoin staged a fierce V-shaped recovery, surging nearly 8% to reclaim the $69,500 level after weeks of downward pressure that saw it briefly lose the $63,000 support zone. This reversal triggered a devastating short squeeze across global exchanges. Liquidation data shows a "4-hour Rekt" event where $247.98 million in Bitcoin short positions were liquidated, compared to only $11.17 million in longs. In a 12-hour window alone, $321.15 million in short positions were wiped out.
In total, over $330 million in cryptocurrency positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, with the overwhelming majority being bearish bets. This event contributed to a broader market liquidation exceeding $341 million. Trader and analyst Justin Spittler highlighted the technical significance of Bitcoin's move on X, noting, "$BTC strong today. +8% on the day. Never retested recent lows." Spittler also correlated Bitcoin's price action with a potential bottom in the broader tech sector, specifically software stocks ($IGV).
This episode underscores the extreme risks of excessive leverage in high-volatility crypto assets, demonstrating how a lack of liquidity and over-leverage can rapidly amplify market movements.
