Crypto KOL Community & Market Trends

The fifth wave is brewing: Micron 1466, SanDisk 2847!
1. Micron $MU
has already completed its first major upward wave and is now consolidating in the fourth wave. As long as it breaks through the major resistance level around 1038, the fifth wave could begin, with a direct target of 1466. However, this is also the bears’ strongest defense zone, so don’t chase the price with a large position. Those who are already in should continue holding, while those looking to buy should wait for an opportunity with a small position.
2. SanDisk $SNDK
is following a pattern almost identical to Micron. An inverse head-and-shoulders bottom has already formed, and if it breaks above the previous high, the target for this rally is 2847. The worst-case scenario is that the rally fails and the stock enters another ABC correction, or even falls back to around 500. However, this is unlikely because the support is very strong.
3. The memory ETF $DRAM
at $40 is the bottom area of this AI memory market cycle. It has already completed an ABC correction, formed a bullish divergence at the bottom, and developed an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, all of which are signals of a trend reversal. The key level now is the 60–62 resistance zone. Once the price stabilizes above and breaks through it, the cycle’s bottom will be essentially confirmed, and it may not return for a long time.
Be bold when buying at low levels, but don’t chase at high levels!

This round of SL8 staking closes today at 10:00 UTC. If you’ve checked it out a few times before, don’t put it off any longer. You can still lock in:
30 days at 28%
90 days at 38%
180 days at 50%
360 days at 62%
Compounded weekly, with the earnings added back to the principal to keep rolling. BTC, ETH, XLM, USDC, as well as gold, silver, and platinum can all be deposited. The minimum is approximately 100U. The official figures gave an approximate amount, 1000U

To be honest, I’m already confused by the current market trend!
Many people have asked me, and I’m not sure either. I can only make a rough analysis based on the existing trend for everyone’s reference and discussion!
I believe $58,000 is very likely the major bottom, but it cannot yet be confirmed as the final cycle bottom. However, even if it is not, the true bottom is unlikely to be far below $58,000!
The main decline phase of the bear market has most likely ended, and the market is recovering from the bottom toward the bull-bear dividing line—not entering a new major uptrend yet.
Here are several questions everyone is concerned about for discussion!
1. Why is the price rising now?
After falling from $123,000 to $58,000, a retracement of over 50%, leverage and high-level positions have undergone a round of liquidation. Subsequently, rate hikes, hawkish dot plots, and regulatory headwinds were released in succession, yet the price did not make a new low, indicating that selling pressure is beginning to run out. Meanwhile, spot ETF buying, recovery of unrealized losses, and short stop-losses jointly drove the price above $80,000.
2. What stage of the bull-bear cycle are we in now?
I lean more toward “mid-cycle recovery after the main decline of the bear market has ended” rather than a new bull market. ETFs have changed the shape of the bear market but have not eliminated the cycle. In the past, prices might have plunged 70%–80%; now, a retracement of around 50% is more likely, followed by a prolonged period of sideways bottom-building.
3. Is $58,000 the final bottom?
$58,000 has the conditions to be a bottom, but confirmation is still lacking. Stablecoins have not expanded significantly, and buying from corporate treasuries remains weak, indicating insufficient new liquidity.
As long as $62,000–$65,000 holds later, the probability of $58,000 becoming the cycle low is relatively high. If this area is lost, $58,000 could still be tested again.
4. What will happen over the next six months?
In a high-interest-rate environment, it will be difficult for BTC to enter a sustained major uptrend directly. It is more likely to trade sideways within a wide range of $68,000–$95,000, with the center of gravity gradually moving higher.
Holding above $76,000 means the recovery continues; falling below $73,000 would weaken the market again; only holding above $85,000 would allow a challenge of $90,000–$96,000; only reclaiming $100,000 on the weekly chart can confirm that the bear market has completely ended.
In short: $58,000 looks like a bottom, but it has not yet been truly confirmed by the market; $80,000 marks recovery, $85,000 is the key level, and $100,000 is the definitive proof that the bear market has truly ended.

The competition between platforms is essentially a competition for devs. Several chains and several platforms are all competing for top-tier genius devs. Hype can be controlled by pumping prices, but maintaining strong, long-term momentum still requires attracting top-tier devs to launch tokens. In the past, devs had no choice and could only launch tokens on Pump. Now there are so many places to choose from, and the hype is all the same, so it comes down to which platform is more dev-friendly and offers better benefits. At the moment, Pons is more...

It has gone up now, so we can confirm that yesterday’s drop was an opportunity; but when I bought, it hadn’t gone up yet, and I didn’t know whether it was an opportunity or a trap; so what is most important? I think it’s knowing what to do when something happens that doesn’t match your prediction, whether you bought or not.

BTC at $84,750—are you chasing it?
Look at the surface first: up 4-5% in 24 hours, breaking above $84,000 for the first time since late January, and the weekly chart moving above the 50-week moving average for the first time in 45 weeks. Does it sound like the bull market is back? But look closer—the entire market saw $750 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, 86% of them shorts. When the price crossed $84,000, $260 million in shorts were liquidated in a single hour. This was not driven by new money buying in; shorts were forced to close, and forced buying pushed the market higher.
This kind of rally is fast and steep, but less sustainable than a rally driven by continuous ETF inflows.
First: a short squeeze is not a bull market—it is a short-side stampede
Of the $750 million in liquidations, 86% were shorts. The $83,000-$86,000 range was already a heavily shorted area, and once the price entered it, forced buying pushed the market higher on its own.
You see “BTC surging”; I see a “short-sellers’ funeral.”
This kind of short-squeeze rally comes fast and goes just as fast.
Second: ETF flows turned positive, but the momentum is average
There were $750 million in net outflows over the two days of the 15th and 16th last week, followed by $433 million in net inflows on Friday alone (about $311 million for FBTC and about $108 million for IBIT), barely bringing the week into positive territory at $6 million. Cumulative net inflows stand at $55.1 billion, with ETF holdings at $102.5 billion.
Conclusion: selling pressure has stopped and buyers have returned, but this is not yet “institutional buying at full force.” Derivatives contributed more than spot ETFs to Monday’s move.
Third: bad news has been priced in—not a restart of rate cuts
Last week, the CLARITY Act failed to pass and the Federal Reserve raised rates by 25bp, which should have pressured risk assets. Instead, the SEC granted an innovation exemption for tokenized U.S. equities, the CFTC advanced a draft rules proposal, and oil prices fell for four consecutive days, sending stocks and crypto higher together.
The market is trading “bad news has been priced in,” not “the rate-cut cycle is restarting.”
The bull-bear showdown—you decide
On one side:
The weekly chart moved above the 50-week moving average for the first time in 45 weeks, signaling a stronger structure
A $750 million short-side stampede, with fierce forced buying
ETF flows turned positive, and selling pressure stopped
Bad news has been priced in, and risk appetite is recovering
On the other side:
Once the short squeeze ends, spot buying may fail to follow through
Leveraged longs are beginning to crowd in, amplifying perpetual open interest
Rates remain hawkish, with another hike possible this year
The China-U.S. meeting on Thursday carries substantial event risk
Upper wicks have already appeared above $85,000, indicating profit-taking
Resistance above: 85300-85500 (the intraday high and the end of the short squeeze) → 88000-90000 (second target)
Support below: 82500-82800 (the first pullback zone after the breakout) → 80800-81200 (this morning’s range) → 76000-78000 (the lower boundary of the range; only a drop to this area would count as structural damage)
Trading strategy
Wait for a pullback to 82500-82800 and enter with a small position after a 1-hour decline stabilizes. More conservatively, look for reduced-volume stabilization at 81200-80800.
Target: first look for a retest of 85300, then 88000.
Stop-loss: if entering longs at 82,500, reduce the position on a decisive break below 80800; if the daily candle closes below 80,000, the breakout has failed, so exit first.
Protection against a pullback:
If the price fails to break 85300 again, forms a long upper wick, and volume does not keep up, reduce longs or hedge with a small position. The most common path after a short squeeze is: surge → pullback to the breakout level → choose a direction again. A failed pullback means a false breakout.
Medium term:
Hold only if all conditions are met: the weekly chart continues to close above the 50-week moving average, ETFs do not see large net outflows this week, and the pullback holds above 80,800. Otherwise, treat 84,700 as near the swing high, take part of the move, and exit part by part.
The structure is stronger than last week, but the price is more expensive. $84,700 was driven by a short squeeze, not bought with institutional real money.
You are not chasing the return of the bull market—you are chasing a short-sellers’ funeral.
$84,700 was built up by short liquidations, not bought by institutions with real money.
Bulls should wait for 82,500 or 80,800; bears should not go against the trend and try to pick a top on the breakout day. With the China-U.S. meeting and a series of Federal Reserve speeches this week, volatility will be harder to trade than direction, and position sizing matters more than opinions.
At 84750, do you dare chase it? #BTC突破84000美元 #加密货币总市值重返2.8万亿美元 #Gate广场中秋团圆局 $BTC $ETH $SOL

$4.25 NEAR—would you still dare to chase it?
First, the surface: up 20% over the past 24 hours, 80% over the past week, and 110% over the past month. BTC is moving sideways at $81,000, while NEAR has taken the lead in the altcoin rotation. 24-hour trading volume exploded, with the price rising from 2.3 to 4.44 in what was almost a straight-line move. The trend has strengthened, but the position is crowded.
First: privacy perpetuals have launched, but the truly valuable part is not the word “privacy”
near com has changed perpetual positions to default to private shards via Confidential Intents, with execution and liquidity provided by Hyperliquid—50+ markets, up to 40x leverage.
When you open a position on NEAR, others cannot see your identity, source of funds, or position direction
Copy traders, front-runners, and those specifically targeting your liquidation are all rendered ineffective
It uses Hyperliquid’s liquidity, effectively letting you use someone else’s liquidity as your own entry point
After the news came out, the price surged directly from 2.3 to 4.4.
Second: Intents’ TVL is real, not just a PowerPoint
NEAR Intents’ total value locked stands at $170-210 million, while the confidential portion rose from $70 million to $100 million. Cross-chain intent trading volume is increasing, with actual fees retained over the past 30 days.
This is the biggest difference between NEAR and altcoins that rely purely on hype: it has verifiable data.
Confidential TVL surpassing $70 million also triggered the first snapshot for NEAR 3.33 incentives, with 333,333 milestone tokens.
Third: the AI + privacy dual narrative, with funds rotating in
NEAR is benefiting from rotating capital in both the AI and privacy sectors. On-chain AI inference/agent-related staking and access to dozens of models are being combined with confidential execution.
It led the altcoin market alongside AVAX and ARB this week.
The Federal Reserve just raised rates by 25bp last week to 3.75%-4.00%, and the dot plot was hawkish. BTC is fluctuating around $81,000, while ETF fund flows remain inconsistent. The macro environment cannot deliver a major bull market and can only provide a “structural impulse.”
NEAR’s independent rally is benefiting from the window created by “the broader market staying alive + thematic rotation.”
Bulls vs. bears—you decide
On one side:
Privacy perpetuals are a real product, with Hyperliquid liquidity integrated
Intents TVL and fees are genuinely growing, rather than being a pure narrative
AI + privacy sector rotation, with capital showing recognition
The weekly chart has broken away from the long-term bottom, confirming a medium-term uptrend structure
On the other side:
Up 80% in a week and 110% in a month, RSI is inevitably elevated
$4.25 has already priced in a large portion of product expectations
The Federal Reserve is hawkish, and the macro environment does not support a broad-based bull market
The all-time high is 20.4, while the current price is still 79% lower—holders trapped at higher levels could sell at any time
Resistance above: 4.44 (intraday high) → 5.00 (round-number + psychological level) → 5.5-6.0
Support below: 4.10 (today’s lower bound) → 3.50-3.33 (dense trading zone before the acceleration began) → 2.8-2.4 (the starting point of this rally’s main uptrend)
Trading strategy
Bullish bias:
Wait for a pullback to 3.5-3.33, then lightly test a long position if declining volume accompanies a bottoming move or if stability forms on the 1-4-hour timeframe. Take partial profits at the first target of 4.44, with the second target at 5.00. Stop-loss below 3.20.
Protecting against a pullback:
If the price fails to break through 4.44, forms a long upper wick, or shows price-volume divergence—reduce long exposure in the short term or use small-scale hedges. If it breaks below 4.10 and cannot quickly reclaim it, reduce your position first. If it breaks below 3.50 and fails to reclaim it, the probability that this impulse has ended rises; staying on the sidelines is preferable to dip-buying.
Medium term:
It is only worth holding under one condition—the price returns to around 3.3-3.5 and establishes support again, while Intents/confidential TVL and fees continue to rise. Otherwise, take one leg of the move and exit.
NEAR now looks a lot like Solana in 2021—
Product narrative + capital rotation + technical breakout, all three happening at once. SOL surged from $2 to $260, while NEAR has risen from 2.3 to 4.4—how far do you think this move has really gone?
But don’t forget:
Those who chased SOL at the top in 2021 suffered a 95% drop in 2022.
It wasn’t that Solana was no good; they simply got on at the wrong level.
$4.25 is not a “close-your-eyes-and-chase” level. It is a zone where “the rally needs to take a breather.”
At $4.25, will you chase or wait for a pullback?#BTC突破84000美元 #GT涨4.3%突破10美元 $BTC #Gate广场中秋团圆局 $ETH $NEAR

$ETH just broke out of a pattern that preceded its last 3 major rallies.
ETH closed the week up 6.77%, breaking above the same range that marked previous breakout setups.
Key levels now:
Bullish: Hold $1,900 → $3,200–$3,600 becomes the next major zone.
Bearish: Lose the breakout range → momentum could fade quickly.
The next weekly close is crucial.

Recently, I came across an AI trader on @vergex_ai whose live trading performance has been quite impressive.
It has made profits on 76 of its last 81 trades. I clicked in to review the entry and exit records for each trade, and they were indeed quite interesting. It caught many entry points fairly accurately, with solid profit potential as well.
Those trading futures can check it out for themselves. It may be worth observing its live trading performance first before deciding whether to follow it.
Strategy entry:

ZEC at $1,485—would you buy?
Look at the surface first: Over the past two weeks, ZEC has been in a parabolic major uptrend. It started from $400-$500 in mid-August, moved above $1,000 in early September, touched $1,595 on September 18-19, then stopped falling at $1,425-$1,440. Daily RSI has stayed around 70 for a long time, and ADX is above 50. The trend is intact, but momentum is already overextended.
Bullish in the medium term, overheated in the short term.
First: The bullish catalysts have piled up, but they are already priced in.
The Grayscale spot ZEC ETF (ZCSH) listed on August 25, and its AUM has already reached $890 million-$1 billion. A 3-for-1 split was announced in mid-to-late September and took effect on September 30—lowering the per-share price and making it easier for retail investors to enter.
The NU7 governance vote passed: approximately 2.4 million ZEC participated, with 99.9% supporting a reduction in block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, and 98.9% supporting the retention of Bitcoin-style halving. The target mainnet date is November 5, with the testnet going live first on October 6. But look at the price—after surging to $1,595, it fell back to $1,485.
Second: The major on-chain short was blown out, leaving no counterparty.
Positions related to major on-chain short seller Garrett Jin were reportedly closed at a huge loss. This reduced short-term selling pressure, but it also shows that this rally has squeezed the counterparty base nearly dry.
As long as shorts survive, longs can keep rising; once the shorts are gone, the longs start fighting among themselves.
There is no longer any short fuel ahead; from here, it will mostly be longs competing with one another.
Third: The technical picture is at the end of a parabolic move, with clear overbought signals.
Daily/weekly: A high-level consolidation following a standard parabolic major uptrend. The price is far above the 20-, 50-, and 200-day moving averages, and the trend is intact. But RSI has stayed around 70 for a long time, while the stochastic indicator and CCI are both in overbought territory.
4-hour: Still tilted bullish, with the price above the Ichimoku cloud and the moving averages in a bullish alignment, but MACD has already seen a death cross and weakening momentum. The 4-hour chart looks more like a pause near the lower boundary of an ascending channel, not the starting point of another major uptrend.
You decide after weighing the bulls and bears
On one side:
Grayscale ETF inflows continue, with AUM near $1 billion
Paradigm has disclosed its holdings, providing institutional backing
The NU7 vote passed with 99.9% support, with the mainnet upgrade scheduled for November 5
The shielded pool accounts for 29%, with $7.4 billion in locked value and rising privacy usage
A total supply of 21 million, the halving narrative, and the next halving in 2028
On the other side:
Most of the bullish catalysts are priced into the $1,400-$1,600 range
Daily RSI is overbought, and the move is at the end of its parabola
The shorts have been squeezed dry, and the longs are beginning to compete with one another
The Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 bp in September to 3.75%-4.00%; the dot plot is hawkish, and another hike this year is possible
Chasing longs at $1,485 leaves a wide stop-loss range and offers a poor risk-reward ratio
Trading strategy
Scenario A: Conservative long
Wait for a pullback to $1,440-$1,425, preferably with a long lower wick or a high-volume recovery, then enter longs in batches.
Stop-loss: A confirmed break below $1,380—preferably based on the closing price or the 1-hour close, rather than getting stopped out by a wick.
First target: Take partial profits at $1,510-$1,540.
Second target: The previous high at $1,595.
Third target: The upper boundary of the channel around $1,840.
Scenario B: Sell the rebound high / grid trading
If you think it will continue ranging between $1,420 and $1,590 for several days:
Reduce longs or lightly hedge with shorts at $1,520-$1,550;
Buy back at $1,440-$1,460.
Positions in one direction should not exceed 20-30% of total capital.
Scenario C: Accept defeat only after a breakdown
If the 1-hour/4-hour close falls below $1,420 and cannot quickly recover: reduce longs; do not stubbornly hold.
If the daily close is below $1,380: reduce medium-term long positions to a watch position, with the next area at $1,250-$1,100.
Only a high-volume daily close above $1,600 would make “price discovery” the primary scenario, with the target shifted to $1,800-$2,000. Until it holds above that level, $1,595 is simply an area of trapped holders.
What to watch over the next 48 hours
Whether $1,425 holds
Whether the ETF continues to see net inflows—more important than sentiment on Twitter
Whether BTC remains stable above $80,000
Whether ZRC-20/CASH is seeing genuine minting activity or is merely a one-day hot-money play
You failed to get on board when it rose from $400 to $1,595, and now that it has pulled back to $1,485, you suddenly want to go all in.
You are not chasing the coin—you are chasing someone else’s take-profit orders.
At the end of a major uptrend, the correct move is usually to reduce leverage, wait for a pullback, and let the market digest the overbought conditions—not use high leverage at $1,485 to gamble on another new high. The privacy narrative and ETF can support the medium-term trend, but they cannot support every 15-minute chase trade.
At $1,485, will you chase or wait for a pullback?#MSTR領漲納指100 #BTC重回80K #Gate廣場中秋團圓局 $BTC $ETH $ZEC

$ETH is on track for its strongest Q3 ever.
ethereum is currently up +67.57% in Q3 2026, slightly ahead of last year’s +66.55%.
if this holds into quarter-end, it would mark a new Q3 record for $ETH.

$SUI Market Update
$SUI is making strong moves, pumping +6.83% and trading at $0.9587! 
Key Metrics:
• 24h High: $0.9781
• 24h Low: $0.8088
• 24h Volume: 56.38M SUI ($50.60M USDT) 
After testing a low of 0.8088, strong buying pressure swept SUI up to peak at $0.9781 before a slight pull back to current levels.
Momentum remains bullish as buyers attempt to reclaim the $0.9600–$0.9780 resistance zone.
A breakout above $0.9781 could push price targets toward $1.00+. 
Are you holding or waiting for a pullback? Let us know below!
#GateRanksTop2InBTCAndETHOpenInterest #GateVoyage #StriveHoldingsSurpass25000BTC

On September 22, global markets are all awaiting this “closed-door meeting of the six Gulf states”
September 22, New York. Trump will meet behind closed doors with the leaders of the six Gulf states to discuss one thing.
Not “whether to end the war,” but “how to divide the pie after the war.”
But the problem is—the pie has not yet been divided, and Iran’s missiles and the Houthis’ drones have already overturned the table.
Three-way game, each with its own agenda:
🇮🇷 Iran’s card: 7 conditions already delivered to Washington
Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, personally confirmed that a peace proposal had been submitted to the United States through Qatar and that they were now awaiting Trump’s response.
The conditions include a ceasefire on all fronts, the unfreezing of frozen assets, and an end to the maritime blockade.
However, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Since September 2, not a single supertanker has sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran is presenting its conditions while simultaneously choking the global oil supply.
🇺🇸 Trump’s hesitation: He has neither ruled out attacking nor promised negotiations
Trump said on one hand that “hopefully we are getting near the end of the war,” while saying on the other that he was facing a “major decision.”
He is open to meeting Iranian President Pezeshkian during the United Nations General Assembly, but neither side has confirmed a formal arrangement.
This military conflict, which erupted in February, has lasted 7 months. Trump’s team is drawing up “day-after” plans, which are not expected to be finalized until after the U.S. midterm elections.
When the war ends may depend on the pace of the U.S. midterm elections.
🇸🇦 The six Gulf states’ anxiety: Air-defense interceptors are nearly exhausted
Saudi Arabia has very few air-defense interceptors left.
On the evening of September 19, the Houthis announced two military operations targeting “sensitive sites” in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh and Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu.
Saudi Arabia has requested air-defense support from France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and Egypt. It has even made a rare request for support to Israel, with which it has not yet established diplomatic relations.
The United States, Saudi Arabia’s most important ally, is also stretched thin, as its stockpile of interceptors has fallen sharply due to the war with Iran.
The Gulf states are talking about “postwar strategy,” but what they are thinking is: When will the Houthis’ next wave of drones arrive tonight?
Brent crude briefly hit $109.97 per barrel on September 11, a new high since May this year; WTI crude reached as high as $104.46 per barrel. Since September, both major crude benchmarks have risen by more than 17% cumulatively.
Bitcoin is under pressure amid geopolitical tensions and is currently trading near $81,760, with the RSI indicating overbought conditions. After the United States struck Iranian oil tankers, Bitcoin briefly fell nearly 1% to $79,700.
The significance of this meeting lies not in “what will be agreed,” but in whether Trump provides a timetable.
As long as the timetable is clear, the market’s “uncertainty discount” will begin to fade—regardless of whether the outcome is escalation or de-escalation.
Brent crude has already climbed above $100. Goldman Sachs warned that if attacks on commercial shipping increase, oil prices could rebound to $120 per barrel.
Bitcoin is fluctuating around $80k, with every geopolitical escalation prompting a repricing of risk assets.
The market’s pricing logic is simple: You do not need to know the outcome; you only need to know “when the outcome will be known.”
What geopolitics fears most is not bad news, but not knowing when the next piece of news will arrive.
On September 22, the market can at least know the direction. #MSTR領漲納指100 #BTC重回80K #Gate廣場中秋團圓局 $BTC $BZ $CL

In the crypto space, after experiencing many platform communities, I’ve developed a very clear impression: most platform communities are merely showcases for announcements and event notifications, with very limited genuine user interaction. I usually focus mainly on organizing content and the product experience, and I don’t spend long periods chatting in communities. But for nearly two years, I’ve been quietly following Gate

🚨 $BTC just closed above the 50-week MA.
Bitcoin is currently around $81.5K after reclaiming the 50W MA near $78.2K.
This is an important level because previous major cycle recoveries also saw BTC reclaim the 50-week moving average before stronger upside followed.
But one weekly close isn't enough to call a trend change.
The next thing to watch is whether BTC can hold above the 50W MA and eventually reclaim the $84K resistance area.
If that happens, the setup gets a lot more interesting. 👀

🚨 $BTC ‌ just closed above the 50-week MA.
Bitcoin is currently around $81.5K after reclaiming the 50W MA near $78.2K.
This is an important level because previous major cycle recoveries also saw BTC reclaim the 50-week moving average before stronger upside followed.
But one weekly close isn't enough to call a trend change.
The next thing to watch is whether BTC can hold above the 50W MA and eventually reclaim the $84K resistance area.
If that happens, the setup gets a lot more interesting. 👀
#BTCBreaks82K
#CryptoMarketCapBackAbove2.8T
#GateTopsStockPerpetualCoverage

In August, Bitcoin surged 24.6% in five days. Its strongest week in two years.
Your group chat exploded. It was all “The bull is back, get in quick.” You opened your wallet, looked at the coins you held, and felt your heart race.
Then you opened the derivatives data—
Open interest fell 12.6% instead of rising.
You froze.
After such a huge rally, leverage was actually retreating? Who was buying?
There was only one answer: shorts being forcibly liquidated.
This wasn't a bull market. It was a funeral for the shorts.
Here's what happened.
There is a group of people in the market betting that BTC will fall. They borrow coins and sell them, waiting to buy them back after the price drops and pocket the difference. This is called “shorting.”
The problem is that shorting requires margin. When the price rises instead of falling, and rises past a certain point, the exchange's system automatically forces the positions in their accounts to close—placing market buy orders directly to close out the short positions.
They weren't buying because they wanted to. The system was buying for them.
One short gets liquidated → market buy orders push the price higher → more shorts are liquidated → more market buy orders → the price keeps rising.
A perfect death spiral. The shorts' own stop-loss orders became the core fuel driving the price higher.
Glassnode's derivatives report shows that during those five days in August, open interest equivalent to approximately 64,000 BTC was wiped out across the entire market.
Of that, 89% of the liquidation volume came from shorts.
It wasn't longs pushing the price up. It was shorts being slaughtered.
Now look at the options market—
Before that, options traders had been willing to pay a premium for puts over calls for 361 consecutive days. 361 days. Nearly an entire year. The market's fear of downside risk had been etched into pricing.
Then, on the very day of the August breakout, that 361-day bearish bias was completely reversed in a single trading session.
The market's implied volatility index saw a single-day swing four times its normal level.
The market used the most violent means possible to reprice nearly a year's worth of bearish positions.
But institutions are telling you another truth.
Front-end options (1 week) implied volatility jumped 80%, but longer-dated implied volatility for 3-month and 6-month options barely moved.
Translated: the market priced this rally as a short-term liquidity event, not a trend reversal. Panic buying in the short term, while medium- and long-term expectations remained completely unchanged.
The futures curve was the same—the front end adjusted violently, while the far end barely moved.
Institutions are telling you with real money: this isn't the beginning of a bull market; it's a technical short squeeze.
Look at the recent price action, and this pattern is still continuing.
On September 20–21, Bitcoin briefly reached $81,914, driven by news of the SEC's tokenized stock exemption. Over the past 24 hours, $401 million in positions were liquidated across the market, including $241 million in liquidated shorts—1.5 times the amount of liquidated longs.
The shorts are still being slaughtered. But this isn't a bull market signal; it's the inevitable backlash after shorts became extremely crowded.
The price was “bought back,” not “bought up.”
The former is shorts being forced to close, while the latter is longs actively opening positions.
The difference is this: the former is unsustainable; the latter is a trend.
Once everyone's stop-loss orders have been taken out, who is left in the market to buy?
Once the shorts' blood has been drained, who will take the next handoff?
When everyone is shouting, “The bull is back,” the data tells you:
The bull hasn't arrived yet, but the bear has already been slaughtered. #MSTR領漲納指100 #Gate24小時淨流入居交易所Top1 #Gate廣場中秋團圓局 $BTC $ETH $SOL

You save a few U in fees, then slippage gobbles it all back in one bite. Anyone who's been trading contracts for a while should understand this😂
You see the current price and think you can enter, but after clicking, you check the average execution price and it's already nowhere near where it was. You only wanted to capture a small move, but after going back and forth, your profit is cut by a chunk right off the bat.
I happened to see the in-depth report CoinGecko published recently, and Gate's order book data is indeed quite solid:
From August 25 to September 7, Gate ranked first for 14 consecutive days in ETH perpetual bid-and-ask depth, with a median of $555,500—about 1.58 times that of second place; its BTC perpetual also ranked first for 12 days, with a median of $761,000.
Normally, when you see exchanges promoting hundreds of billions in trading liquidity, honestly, it doesn't mean much. Crypto traders only care whether there is real money actually backing the order book at the exact second they place an order. If the order book is even slightly thin, a market order can sweep through several levels, and after a full day of trading, the hidden slippage losses can cost far more than fees.
The spot data tells the same story. In the September 7 snapshot, among the top 30 high-volume trading pairs, Gate ranked in the top two for 28 of them based on 1% depth, with 15 ranking first outright. When trading altcoins, the biggest fear is that the entire order book is just empty air and a slightly larger order blows straight through it.
Everyone can calculate the fees shown upfront, but the stealth bleeding caused by slippage is often overlooked. Those who frequently place high-volume trades can check the original report and compare it with the platform they usually use:

【Little-known facts from the top 10 crypto projects by annual revenue】 CoinGecko just released a 2026 ranking of on-chain protocol revenue. The top ten generated more than $1.6 billion combined, with Hyperliquid alone taking in $429 million. The numbers are huge, and at first glance, they’re pretty encouraging: the crypto industry finally has legitimate revenue. But when you break down the top ten, the picture changes... 6 make money by charging you trading fees: Hyperliquid

Sharing a project I’ve been following recently: #Bian Launched on the Butterfly platform, its mechanism is a support pool + black-hole burning. The Dev accidentally sent 950 million into the black hole, which is quite noticeable on the platform. The community holds meetings almost all day, and there are teams handling both online and offline promotion. Daily trading volume is around 100,000 U, and the support pool has already reached 210B. The theme is based on Chinese mythology: Bian. The narrative is relatively easy to remember. Anyone interested can take a look for themselves.