Bitcoin’s price has climbed above $56,000 for the first time in recent years. The rise led traders betting against further gains to exit their positions, fueling the rally.

The largest cryptocurrency rose more than 10% over the past 24 hours to $56,753 as of 1:20 pm WAT Tuesday, according to data compiled by NODO. The gains came amid a surge in trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to record highs.

The price jump “liquidated” more than $188 million worth of positions on crypto exchanges over the past day, according to data from CoinGlass. Liquidations occur when traders are forced to close out losing positions because their accounts are underfunded to manage the accruing loses.

Most of the liquidations— about $164.89 million—were involved bets against further gains in Bitcoin. Traders make these "short" bets by borrowing bitcoin and selling it, hoping to buy it back later at a lower price. The recent rally meant they had to buy back at higher prices to close out their positions.

Solana’s SOL token and Ethereum’s ether also climbed, gaining 9% and 6% respectively. The total value of liquidated positions across major exchanges topped $363 million.

The liquidations added more fuel to the rally, according to some analysts. “Short squeezes” happen when the price rise forces out short sellers, who then have to buy back the asset to exit their bets. This buying in turn pushes the price higher.

The gains coincide with a surge in trading of spot bitcoin ETFs to record daily volumes of $2.4 billion on Monday, according to data from Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas. That’s double the recent average.

Some long-term bulls see more room to run. Technical analyst Peter Brandt said bitcoin could reach $200,000 by September 2025, up from an earlier target of $120,000. A close below last week’s low of around $50,500 would invalidate that forecast, he added on X.com.

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