Bitcoin powered back above $80,000 on September 3, reversing days of restrained trading after briefly sinking to a 10-day low of $76,200 just 24 hours earlier. The rapid rebound saw BTC reclaim the $77,000 and $78,000 levels before breaking through the key psychological barrier for the first time in a week.
The move erased much of the damage from last Friday's rejection near $80,000, when hawkish comments by Kevin Warsh at Jackson Hole helped push the market back toward $77,000. This time, the advance broadened quickly across major altcoins. Ethereum climbed toward $2,500 after a 2.6% gain in about two hours and a 4.4% rise over 24 hours. BNB jumped above $720, while XRP delivered the strongest major-token move with a 9% daily gain and a 4.3% increase in a single hour.
The synchronized breakout inflicted heavy damage on bearish traders. CoinGlass data showed hourly liquidations reached $157 million, with more than $142 million coming from short positions. Over the full 24-hour period, total liquidations surpassed $400 million, and shorts accounted for $315 million of that total. Nearly 110,000 traders were liquidated, and the largest single liquidation occurred on Binance, totaling more than $5.2 million.
The episode illustrates how quickly leveraged positions can amplify a market reversal once major price levels break. Bitcoin's move from $76,200 to above $80,000, alongside sharp gains in ETH, XRP and BNB, turned subdued conditions into a violent short squeeze across the crypto derivatives market.
