Bitcoin has surged above $66,000, marking its highest level since mid-June when prices were above $67,000. Currently, Bitcoin stands at $66,670, reflecting a 4.7% increase in the past 24 hours. Additionally, Ethereum (ETH) has climbed above $3,500, and Solana (SOL) is trading above $170, with gains of 3% and 8% respectively.

Other altcoins are also showing positive trends. BNB is up by 4.9%, Dogecoin (DOGE) by 4.5%, and Cardano (ADA) by 3%.

Bitcoin Rises Amid Global IT Outage

The increase in Bitcoin’s price coincides with ongoing discussions about the cryptocurrency’s potential inclusion as a strategic national reserve for the US. A significant factor contributing to Bitcoin’s rise was a major IT outage on Friday that affected airlines, banks, media, and other global companies. This disruption followed a software update by a leading cybersecurity company.

As the widespread cyber outages highlighted Bitcoin’s strengths, the market seemed to respond with a fresh rebound.

Moreover, the market saw a substantial increase in spot ETF volume, further supporting the surge.

Shorts Feel the Impact as Bitcoin Price Surges

The price increase also led to significant short liquidations. In just one hour, over $6 million in BTC shorts were liquidated, compared to only $79,700 in long positions. Data from the past four hours reveals that bearish bitcoin bets worth over $12 million were liquidated, while long positions saw liquidations of around $1.6 million.

Across the broader market, more than $30 million in shorts were liquidated in the past four hours, vastly outpacing the $5.3 million in long liquidations.

On Thursday, analysts observed a surge in short positions in the Bitcoin market with BTC prices below $63,000. As the price rose above $66,800, liquidations increased significantly.

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