Bulls and Bears Get Caught off Guard as Bitcoin Jumps to $106K, Then Falls Back to $103K

Over $600 million in crypto derivatives positions have been liquidated since late Sunday as bitcoin (BTC) staged a sharp rally past $106,000 in the wee hours, only to reverse course and dump back to near $103,000, catching both bulls and bears off guard.The move began around 21:00 UTC on Sunday, when bitcoin spiked more than $2,500 in less than an hour — a pattern that can be attributed to thin weekend liquidity and potential algorithmic buying triggered by technical levels.Such price action was a textbook short squeeze followed by aggressive profit-taking or stop-run. A short squeeze happens when traders betting against a price (short sellers) are forced to buy the asset as it rises, to cover their losses, which pushes the price even higher and often very quickly source: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/05/19/bulls-and-bears-get-caught-off-guard-as-bitcoin-jumps-to-usd106k-then-falls-back-to-usd103k