A liquidity imbalance in Bitcoin (BTC) is building near $80,000, with over $4 billion in compact positions at risk of liquidation above this level. The setup strengthened after Bitcoin defended support near $76,100 for two days and formed bullish signals on the lower time frames.

BTC compact liquidation accumulates above $80,000

On the one-hour chart, Bitcoin has formed a bullish divergence between price and the relative strength index (RSI), with improving momentum and higher lows near $76,100, suggesting underlying purchasing power. BTC also retested $78,000 on Thursday after repeatedly defending the $76,100 support level this week.

BTC/USDT, one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Price action also forms an inverse head-and-shoulders configuration below a falling trendline, which often signals a weakening of bear pressure ahead of a breakout. A move above $78,000 could reveal a fair value gap (FVG) between $79,500 and $80,300, a low-liquidity price zone created during the previous pointed sell-off to which the BTC price could return to fill an untraded range before continuing with another move.

CoinGlass liquidation data shows that the greatest concentration of leveraged risk occurs above current price levels. A move towards $80,000 would expose over $4 billion in accumulated compact positions. By comparison, a drop toward $75,000 would mean long liquidations of about $3 billion.

This means that if BTC continues to climb higher, compact sellers will face more pressure than bullish ones.

BTC liquidation map. Source: CoinGlass

Related: Bitcoin accumulation trends fade as realized losses reach $600 million

Bitcoin futures activity dwarfs spot activity

BTC liquidation activity has Already has accelerated in the last 24 hours. CoinGlass data recorded 103,963 liquidated traders, with total liquidations reaching $286.08 million. Short positions accounted for almost $175 million in total, while the largest single liquidation was for Binance’s BTCUSDT pair at $3.04 million.

Open interest in the term Bitcoin. Source: CryptoQuant

CryptoQuanta data showed Bitcoin-denominated open positions were worth nearly 116,800 BTC, up from 120,000 BTC the day before. Lower open interest indicates that investors have closed out some of their leveraged exposure during the recent volatility. This usually indicates more controlled activity in the derivatives market rather than excessive speculation.

Spot market share remained delicate during Bitcoin’s recovery to $78,000. Aggregate spot volume delta (CVD), which tracks net buying and selling pressure, was -$483 million. CVD futures turned slightly positive around $34 million while funding rates remained elevated, indicating an upward trend in the compact term.

BTC price, aggregate funding rate, futures and spot CVD. Source: Velo chart

The split between delicate spot demand and marginally forceful futures activity shows that leveraged traders are driving the recent rally. Liquidity concentrations above $80,000 are currently the most pronounced near-term retest level.

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