Amid Bitcoin's rise to $87,000, expectations for further price increases have sharply intensified on social media. According to the on-chain platform Santiment, the level of FOMO among crypto market participants has reached its highest point since 2024. Discussions about BTC and other digital assets have increasingly included messages about continued upward movement and maintaining positive sentiment. Simultaneously, the market experienced a massive wave of short position liquidations: approximately $648 million in bearish bets were closed in a day. The total cryptocurrency trading volume increased by 39% over the same period. These indicators point to a noticeable increase in activity following the upward movement of the leading cryptocurrency, but they do not in themselves determine future price dynamics.
After the liquidation of a significant number of short positions, market participants did not reduce the overall volume of open contracts. On the contrary, open interest grew by 7.6% in a day, approaching $156 billion. According to Santiment, some traders quickly open new positions after the forced closure of previous ones. This dynamic indicates sustained high activity in the derivatives market and simultaneously shows that leveraged financing continues to play a significant role. Meanwhile, the change in sentiment occurred quite rapidly: just a few weeks ago, market participants were showing noticeable caution, and now discussions about Bitcoin are increasingly accompanied by expectations of further growth. Santiment associates this transition with BTC holding above $80,000 for about three weeks.
Historical observations by Santiment indicate an ambiguous relationship between sentiment and subsequent market dynamics. Periods of heightened anxiety often coincided with market lows, while excessive confidence in continued growth could form closer to local peaks. Therefore, analysts view the current FOMO surge primarily as an indicator of changing participant behavior, rather than as an independent signal of an imminent Bitcoin reversal. Santiment separately notes that positive sentiment does not guarantee a sharp price movement in any direction. Meanwhile, after a noticeable asset increase and a rise in new positions, the risk structure differs from the situation a week earlier, when market concerns prevailed. Thus, the key change was not only BTC's movement but also a significant restructuring of market participants' expectations.
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