Bitcoin’s Wild Ride: Leverage Surge Pushes BTC to $87.5K: What’s Next?

The market experienced a strong Bitcoin rally when prices reached nearly $87,500. Market data indicates that this price surge is mostly explained by leverage as Open Interest (OI) reaches its all-time high at above $32 billion. The substantial increase signals aggressive trading activities yet simultaneously poses risks of prolonged liquidation flows that would produce major market price fluctuations.

BTC Market Alert: Leverage-driven pump

“Open Interest (OI) hit record levels above $32B as BTC price surges near $87.5K.

But here’s the catch: High OI + Rapid Price Increase = Risk of Liquidation Cascades!” – By @IT_Tech_PL

Full post ⤵️https://t.co/BzEOKHgPLI pic.twitter.com/DHL0MGedSR

— CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) March 24, 2025

FOMO or Fallout? The Two Possible Scenarios

The massive amount of leverage present makes Bitcoin face a turning point in its market situation. BTC is at risk of entering new unexplored price areas as fear of missing out (FOMO) fuels this parabolic market movement. Both institutional traders and retail traders join the upward trend after which price movement receives additional acceleration.

However, leverage-driven rallies are fragile. An inability of bulls to control the market may trigger widespread forced liquidation for overleveraged long positions. Price reductions at this point would create a chain reaction that would eliminate trading operations before leading to quick market selling. The Bitcoin market recently recorded substantial corrections due to liquidation chain reactions just like previous bull market cycles so this emerging trend represents a crucial moment in BTC’s upcoming price direction.

Key Indicators to Watch for Bitcoin Price

The volatile market requires traders to inspect price changes as well as changes in Open Interest (OI) to establish successful navigation. Unmanaged growth of OI puts Bitcoin at risk of downward price movements since there is no clear buying pressure from spot markets. Higher buying demand maintaining elevated prices would enable the rally to carry on.

The rates of funding on perpetual futures contracts serve as market sentiment indicators. High funding rates indicate excessive long-position leverage before markets tend to experience pullbacks. The sudden reduction of OI seems to cause minimal price movement and signals traders minimizie risk by cutting their leverage which leads to market stabilization.

What’s Ahead?

The question here is can Bitcoin succeed in pushing passed $90K by breaking higher values or will it face major rejection during this critical point?

The current price position of Bitcoin has become critically important for its ability to succeed or fail. Bitcoin approaches a critical decision point that will determine if it advances beyond $90K or enters a downward trend caused by liquidations. Traders need to expect extreme market volatility during the upcoming days because leveraged positions exist at their highest point.

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