Bitcoin’s $87,400 Rally Cleared Out Shorts—Now Longs Hold the Bigger Risk

By Isaac • September 30, 2026 7:56 am •

Bitcoin’s run toward $87,400 did more than lift the market to an eight-month high. It cleared out a major layer of bearish leverage that had been sitting above the price for much of the past year.

That helped the rally accelerate. Short sellers caught on the wrong side had to buy Bitcoin back as the price climbed, adding forced demand to an already strong move.

Now the setup has changed. The largest remaining leverage concentrations are no longer shorts waiting overhead.

They are long positions sitting below the market, where a pullback could turn them into forced sellers.

That shift was the central finding in a new analysis from CryptoSlate. The report found that Bitcoin remains