Bitcoin gained about 4% over 24 hours and reached $75,653 around 10:00 p.m. ET on Monday, 16 March 2026, according to The Block’s price page. Hours later, it slipped to about $74,300. Ethereum rose 3.28% to $2,315 during the same stretch. XRP advanced 5% to $1.54, adding to the broader market rebound.
At the same time, total crypto liquidations reached roughly $609 million over the past 24 hours, based on Coinglass data. Short positions made up $485.6 million of that figure. Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, told The Block that the latest move extended higher because short sellers got caught. He said squeeze-driven rallies usually fade without steady real demand.
Nathan Batchelor, managing partner at crypto trading data platform Biyond, gave a similar view . He said Bitcoin saw notable short liquidations around $73,000 to $74,000, which likely helped trigger the jump. Batchelor added that Biyond’s volatility models remained low. In his view, that points more to a stop-hunt than the start of a stronger breakout toward $80,000.