Bitcoin (BTC) surged to a 7-month high on Monday, lifting market sentiment and institutional confidence with it.
The peak arrived after Bitcoin flashed a key bottom sign. Yet, two key signals raise questions about whether the rally can sustain itself.
Bitcoin Surges to a Level Last Seen In January
Bitcoin climbed to an intraday peak of $87,395 on September 21, marking its strongest price since January 29. At the time of writing, the asset changed hands at $85,326, reflecting a 4.90% increase over the span of 24 hours.
This upward move came on the heels of a weekly close back above the 50-week moving average, a milestone that historically points to the completion of bear-market lows.
A wave of short squeezes provided much of the momentum. According to Coinglass figures, total crypto liquidations reached $746.6 million over 24 hours, with short positions making up $647.9 million of that total.
As forced buying accelerated the advance, market-wide trading volume expanded by 39% to approximate $224 billion.
Sentiment and Institutional Flows Followed the Price
Market sentiment shifted in tandem with the rising prices. Analytics platform Santiment documented the largest surge in bullish commentary since December 2024, noting that social volume containing bullish keywords hit 954 mentions compared to just 269 bearish references.
Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index advanced to 78—signaling “Extreme Greed”—up from 70 on Monday and 69 the previous week.
Corporate treasuries matched the enthusiasm seen among retail traders. Between September 14 and September 18, Strive purchased 1,355 Bitcoin for roughly $107.7 million, notably higher than the 469 coins acquired the week prior. This transaction brought Strive’s total reserves to 26,355 Bitcoin.
Strategy also re-entered the market following a two-week hiatus, revealing the acquisition of 950 Bitcoin to elevate its total holdings to 846,000 coins.
Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a similar trend. Data from SoSoValue shows that these funds pulled in $999 million on September 21—their highest single-day influx since October 6, 2025—which pushed total net assets up from $102.5 billion to $110.1 billion.
Even so, September inflows continue to lag behind August levels. Over 14 trading sessions this month, the funds have gathered roughly $1.3 billion, contrasting with the $3.5 billion recorded during August.
What the Derivatives Data and the Coinbase Premium Show
Two distinct indicators complicate the overall outlook for the bulls. Leverage serves as the first concern; open interest across crypto derivatives grew 7.59% to reach approximately $156 billion despite the liquidation of short positions, indicating that traders were opening fresh positions rather than cutting exposure.
Furthermore, Santiment pointed out a contrarian sentiment warning.
“Crypto often punishes crowded expectations. Extreme fear can appear near exhaustion lows, while synchronized “higher from here” confidence can develop near local tops. The current sentiment spike doesn’t guarantee a reversal, but risk is less attractive now than when the crowd was fearful last week,” it stated.