26th February 2026 – (New York) Bitcoin rallied sharply on Wednesday, climbing back towards the $69,000 mark for the first time in over a week and triggering a substantial wave of short liquidations across the cryptocurrency derivatives market.
The world’s largest digital asset rose to an intraday high of $69,869, recovering from a slide below $63,000 the previous day. The move represented a daily gain of more than 7 per cent, although Bitcoin remains down by more than a fifth over the past month.
The rebound prompted significant losses for traders who had positioned for further declines. Data from CoinGlass showed that more than $400 million worth of short positions were liquidated within 24 hours, accounting for the bulk of approximately $463 million in total forced liquidations during that period.
Bitcoin-related shorts comprised roughly $200 million of the total, while Ethereum accounted for about $153 million. Solana followed with an estimated $22 million in short positions wiped out.
Ethereum rose by around 12 per cent on the day to trade near $2,075, while Solana advanced almost 14 per cent to just under $89. Among the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, Ethereum and Solana recorded the strongest percentage gains. Other tokens posting double-digit advances included Polkadot, Filecoin, Uniswap, Aptos, Avalanche and Chainlink. The overall crypto market capitalisation increased by approximately 6.6 per cent over the same 24-hour period.
Shares linked to the digital asset sector also moved higher as investor appetite for risk improved. Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, surged 29 per cent to $79 following the release of its earnings results. Blockchain lending platform Figure gained 15 per cent to $34, while Ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies rose nearly 14 per cent to $22.
Crypto exchange Coinbase climbed 13 per cent to $183 per share, and Bitcoin treasury company Strategy added close to 9 per cent to trade above $135. Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings also advanced, rising 7 per cent to $8.66.
