Assume you are a short seller.
You entered a short position during the panic at $60,000. You thought it would go even lower. $50,000, $40,000, even the $53,000 PlanB called two months ago.
Then BTC surged all the way to $70,000. You held on.
It rose to $80,000. You still held on.
Now PlanB says: the bear market is over.
And your short positions are turning into fuel for others.
On September 18, $183 million worth of shorts were forcibly liquidated.
Within one hour. Not one day, one hour.
BTC climbed from $76,355 to $80,848, breaking the $80,000 mark for the first time in 11 days. For every dollar liquidated, 95 cents came from short sellers.
This is not a bull market pushing the price. This is shorts pushing the price.
FxPro Chief Analyst Alex Kuptsikevich put it bluntly: "Traders had previously heavily piled on leveraged short positions, betting the downtrend would continue, and these positions were forced to be covered, fueling the breakout."
In plain language: shorts bought themselves out.
But what really keeps shorts awake at night isn’t the liquidation data.
It’s that PlanB and Darkfost said two things on the same day.
PlanB said: BTC has risen above the 50-week moving average, about $79,000. The next target is the 100-week moving average, about $89,000. August closed at $78,571, with the profit supply ratio soaring from 50% to 72%, and the monthly RSI rising from 41 to 51. "I personally confirm the bear market is over."
Darkfost said: Market behavior has undergone a substantial shift. It has switched from "panic selling" to "buying the dip." "If you still expect Bitcoin to drop significantly, it’s now more difficult, and shorts face a more complicated situation."
One gives you direction. The other gives you friction.
Together, they create the conditions for a short squeeze.
Shorts have only two paths ahead.
The first: keep holding.
What does a 72% profit supply ratio mean? Most chips are in profit. No one is forced to sell at a low to you. Bitfinex data shows the profit supply ratio is approaching the historical average of 74.7%—historically, every time this level is surpassed, it marks the watershed from bear to bull market.
The "panic selling" you’re waiting for won’t come.
The second: cover.
Glassnode data shows BTC is climbing into a liquidation-heavy zone. Between $83,000 and $86,000, there’s a pile of short positions accumulated over weeks. Once this range is hit, the price may quickly break through due to forced short liquidations.
When you cover, that’s buying pressure. When you get liquidated, that’s buying pressure too.
Either way, it’s buying pressure.
The real problem for shorts isn’t the price, it’s sentiment.
The most painful part of Darkfost’s statement is the phrase "the same pullback."
Before, when BTC dropped 5%, traders panicked and sold. Now, when BTC drops 5%, traders buy the dip.
The price hasn’t hit new highs yet, but the nature of selling pressure has changed.
In January 2026, BTC was near $98,000 with a false breakout, then lost $60,000 in June, and the panic index dropped to 15. Back then, shorts were in control.
Now? The weak hands are moving to the strong hands. Chips are changing hands, not being sold off.
You think you’re battling the candlesticks. Actually, you’re battling a group of people who "buy more as it falls."
PlanB gives the direction. Darkfost gives the friction shorts must face.
One says the bottom is past. The other says it can’t be pushed down anymore.
Both paths for shorts lead to the same end.
$BTC$ETH$SOL#BTC重返8万美元，资金面出现修复
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