Bitcoin steadies near $63,000 after Sunday's rally liquidates $504M in short positions

Sunday's Bitcoin rally to $63,700 set the tone for Monday's session. The surge caught a large number of short sellers — traders who had placed bets that Bitcoin's price would fall — badly offside, forcing $504 million in liquidations, the most since late April. That kind of forced buying tends to amplify upward moves, which helps explain why the rally carried further than the underlying news alone might have justified. The broader market followed Bitcoin's lead. Ethereum gained 2.65%, Solana rose 2.12%, and Hyperliquid climbed 4.21%. NEAR Protocol was the standout, jumping 11.38% as improved sentiment around Bitcoin drew capital into higher-risk altcoins. Bitcoin Cash moved in the opposite direction, falling 9.07% — a reminder that not every asset benefits equally from a Bitcoin-led rally, particularly when ETF outflow data weighs on sentiment. The Fear & Greed index sits at 8 out of 100, deep in Extreme Fear territory, which means the market's mood remains fragile despite the weekend's gains. Analysts quoted in Monday's coverage noted that a sustained reversal from the broader downtrend will take longer than a single strong session — the rally stabilized prices but did not resolve the underlying uncertainty. Gold slipping below its 200-day moving average (a widely watched technical level) was flagged by some observers as a potential positive signal for Bitcoin, on the theory that investors rotating out of gold sometimes move into crypto.

• –Bitcoin's weekend rally to $63,700 forced $504 million in losses on short sellers — the largest single-session short liquidation since late April.
• –CME Group launched a new product allowing traders to bet on Bitcoin's price volatility rather than its direction, with two firms already placing positions — a sign of growing institutional appetite for crypto derivatives.
• –Zcash gained about 6% in the past 24 hours; a news headline cited a larger 45% move, which appears to reflect a longer multi-day window rather than the 24-hour change — the catalyst was a developer proposal for a new network upgrade called 'Ironwood'.
• –Gold fell below its 200-day moving average on Monday, a technical threshold some analysts watch as a potential indicator of capital rotation toward Bitcoin.