Bitcoin First Surpasses $112,000, Triggered by $200 Million Short Position Liquidation and Reinforced by Safe Haven Asset Role.
The Bitcoin price first surpassed the $112,000 mark in history on Wednesday, marking a 5.95% increase over a week. The primary momentum came from a large-scale liquidation of short positions worth over $200 million near an important technical resistance zone, indicating market pressure on downward trend traders.
Bitcoin's breakthrough simultaneously reflects increased demand for speculative assets in a volatile macroeconomic environment. Consequently, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization has recovered to $3.47 trillion—the highest since June 2025, though still short of the historical peak of $3.73 trillion set in December 2024.
The new Bitcoin price was established amid escalating global geopolitical tensions, just days after Donald Trump announced new tariffs effective from August 1st, targeting multiple countries in Asia and Africa, including a 25% tariff on Japan.
Although the short position liquidation was a direct catalyst for the surge, many analysts believe this trend is supported by more fundamental factors. According to experts from Bitfinex, rebalancing of over-leveraged positions has contributed to creating a more sustainable foundation for the price increase. They emphasize the combination of on-chain accumulation behavior and increasing spot capital flow, indicating real money is entering the market, rather than relying solely on short-term derivative transactions.
Further supporting this argument is Bitcoin's increasingly clear role as a safe haven asset. Ms. Katalin Tischhauser, Head of Research at Sygnum Bank, noted that Bitcoin is increasingly decoupling from stock market movements, especially during significant S&P 500 correction sessions.
According to her, this reflects confidence in Bitcoin's value storage role, particularly when fiat currency continuously loses value. This context is exemplified by a U.S. state passing legislation allowing Bitcoin reserves, accompanied by an executive order establishing a federal Bitcoin reserve fund.
The long-term holding trend is also clearly reflected in on-chain data. According to figures from glassnode, the total Bitcoin volume stored on exchanges has continuously decreased, from 3.11 million BTC in March to 2.99 million BTC on May 21st.
