Bitcoin did something shorts didn’t plan for: it bounced. The cryptocurrency surged roughly $2,000 over eight hours, climbing from lows near $76,300 back above the $78,000 mark as a wave of forced liquidations swept through leveraged bearish positions.

Over $247 million in short positions were liquidated across crypto markets on September 17 and 18, with Bitcoin shorts accounting for a significant share of that total. Bitcoin-specific short liquidations came in around $66 million, compared to roughly $32 million in long liquidations over the same window.

Bitcoin traded within the $77,400 to $78,300 range during early trading on September 18, posting 24-hour gains of between 1.3% and 2.3%. The $78,000 level had already attracted attention…