Bitcoin pushed further above its September range on Monday, trading at around $84,984 during late European hours. The cryptocurrency gained 5.4% over 24 hours, extending its lead over the Sept. 4 high of $82,284.

A large wave of short liquidations has accompanied the advance, indicating that forced buying is helping drive the move. About $746 million in crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, including $647.9 million in short positions. During the latest hour, another $159.9 million was liquidated, with shorts representing 95% of the total.

Bitcoin shorts accounted for $277.5 million of the day’s liquidations, while ether shorts contributed $122.8 million, according to CoinGlass.

At the same time, traders have continued adding exposure to derivatives. Total market open interest climbed 7.59% to $156 billion, while 24-hour trading volume increased 39% to $224 billion. The combination suggests that traders are opening fresh positions even as existing bearish bets are being forced out.

Derivatives Show Growing Bullish Exposure

The futures market is beginning to show a clearer tilt toward buyers. The taker long-short volume ratio has reached nearly 53% in favor of longs, its first notable bullish reading in several weeks. The shift indicates that aggressive buying is becoming more prominent.

Bitcoin futures open interest has also surpassed 700,000 BTC, reaching its highest level in several weeks. While still below historical records, the increase points to renewed demand for leveraged exposure as bitcoin’s spot price climbs.

Whale positioning on Binance is less decisive. The whale account long-short ratio is hovering near 1.0, suggesting that large traders are executing market orders on both sides at roughly similar rates. However, the broader whale derivatives position ratio remains above 2.0, showing that major accounts continue to hold considerable leveraged long exposure.

CRO is seeing an especially large buildup in futures positioning. Open interest has reached a record 536 million tokens as the asset’s price accelerates. The increase in leverage comes with a warning sign, however, as annualized perpetual funding rates have approached 60%. Such elevated funding indicates that long positions are becoming crowded and could increase the risk of a sharp long-side liquidation event.

Bitcoin and ether are also showing strong buying pressure through cumulative volume delta. Both have recorded the highest positive 24-hour CVD readings among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, indicating that buyers are using market orders aggressively.

Implied volatility has risen only slightly. The 30-day BVIV and EVIV indexes for bitcoin and ether remain within normal ranges, suggesting that options traders are not expecting an unusually turbulent rally.

Demand for upside options remains evident. Deribit data shows continued interest in bitcoin and ether calls, while a large ether call spread was executed through Paradigm earlier Monday.

Sui Leads Major Tokens

Sui has emerged as a major outperformer, rising 12.3% since midnight to $1.0073 and gaining 21.4% over 24 hours. Futures open interest increased 28.9% to $402 million, indicating that traders are adding derivatives exposure alongside the price gains.

The latest market rotation has also favored AI-related cryptocurrencies over layer-2 tokens. Artificial Superintelligence Alliance’s FET advanced 8.9% to $0.1911, while Bittensor’s TAO climbed 7.0% to $280.13. Venice’s AI inference token VVV had gained as much as 16% earlier in the session.

DeFi assets remain in positive territory, although their momentum has eased from Friday. Aave rose 7.0% to $147.26, while Ether.fi’s ETHFI gained 6.4% to $0.7691.

NEAR has slowed after leading the weekend rally. The token was up 2.9% since midnight at $4.29 and remained 20% higher over 24 hours. Its open interest, however, increased 26.8% to $882 million, showing that derivatives positioning remains elevated despite the slower price advance.

Dogecoin gained 10.2% over 24 hours to $0.0939, with open interest rising 15%. Avalanche climbed 14.1% to $11.22, while its open interest increased 19.5%. Both tokens have rebounded after trailing the wider market during the middle of last week.

The broader market has also strengthened, with 95 of the 100 CoinDesk 100 constituents trading higher and the index advancing 3.0%. Market leadership has shifted from Friday, when smaller-cap tokens and DeFi assets were responsible for much of the gains.

Macro markets have remained relatively steady. Brent crude was near $101.97 and little changed after reaching $108 in mid-September. Gold fell 0.65% to $4,350, while silver declined 0.32% to $66.24.