K33 Research Director Vetle Lunde stated that Bitcoin surged 23% over the past week, with spot and perpetual contract trading volume increasing by 188%, and CME trading volume up by 152%. On August 19, approximately $1.37 billion worth of Bitcoin short positions were liquidated, setting a single-day record, followed by another $739 million liquidated on August 21. Since then, the nominal open interest in Bitcoin perpetual contracts has dropped to 284,000 BTC, the lowest since May, and funding rates have returned to neutral. The 6-month 25 Delta options skew turned negative for the first time since September 2025, and Bitcoin reclaimed its 50-day, 100-day, 200-day, and 200-week moving averages within just 4 days. Lunde believes that this leverage reset, options positioning, and technical signals are similar to previous bear market breakout phases. Additionally, Bitcoin's 90-day correlation with gold has risen to 0.52, the highest since October 2020, while its correlation with Nasdaq has dropped to 0.38, marking a one-year low. (The Block) https://(wublock123.com)/news/bitcoin-record-short-squeeze-leverage-reset-bear-market-like-signals-67243