Is the bear market over? Bitcoin has reached $79,000... is it time to buy?

Just a few days ago, Bitcoin was trading around $64,000–$65,000, retail investor interest remained weak, and a large part of the market was expecting another decline.

Today, the picture looks completely different.

In less than three days, Bitcoin broke through $70,000, $72,000 and $75,000, while on Friday the price reached nearly $79,500 – its highest level in almost three months.

In just a few days, Bitcoin gained more than 20%.

And perhaps more importantly – on the way up, the market wiped out a massive number of positions held by traders who were expecting exactly the opposite move.

The Biggest Short Squeeze in Bitcoin's History

The rally began sharply on August 19.

Bitcoin broke out from the area around $65,000, and in just one hour more than $1 billion in BTC short positions were liquidated – the largest such wave in history.

But the move did not stop there.

As the broader crypto market continued to rise, liquidated short positions reached around $2.7 billion, with Bitcoin being the main driver of the move. Between August 19 and 20, liquidated BTC short positions totaled approximately $1.65 billion.

What followed was a classic short squeeze.

When the price starts moving sharply against traders who are betting on a decline, their positions begin to close involuntarily. This creates additional buying pressure, pushing the price even higher and potentially triggering the next wave of liquidations.

That is exactly what we witnessed over the past few days.

Several Resistance Levels Disappeared Within Hours

What makes the move even more interesting is its speed.

Levels that had acted as resistance for months and repeatedly stopped Bitcoin's recovery attempts were broken one after another.

From around $65,000 to nearly $79,500 in just a matter of days.

This alone does not mean that the long-term bear market is officially over.

But it does mean something else:

The market structure changed extremely quickly.

For the first time in months, we can seriously talk about the formation of a short-term uptrend – and potentially the beginning of a more significant recovery.

Was It Just a Short Squeeze?

That is the big question.

If the entire move had been driven solely by liquidations, we could expect the momentum to fade relatively quickly once the short positions were cleared out.

So far, however, we are seeing other positive signals as well.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted around $1.61 billion during the week, while the rally was also supported by developments in the bond market that weakened the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury yields.

This suggests that the rally may be driven not only by the forced closing of short positions, but also by genuine demand.

And that is exactly what will be important to watch over the coming days.

Are We Already Too Late?

After a move from $65,000 to nearly $79,000, it is perfectly normal to ask:

“Did I miss the opportunity?”

The truth is that no one knows whether Bitcoin will continue moving straight higher, pull back toward some of the levels it has just broken, or whether this move will prove temporary.

After such a sharp rally, a short-term correction would also be completely normal.

But the past few days have shown just how quickly sentiment in the crypto market can change.

Just a week ago, fear dominated the market. Today, traders who had bet billions on further declines were forced to close their positions, while Bitcoin is once again approaching the psychological $80,000 level.

So perhaps the more important question is not:

“Will we reach $80,000 tomorrow?”

But rather:

“If a new bullish period is actually beginning, do I have a strategy for participating in it?”

For investors who believe in Bitcoin over the long term, gradually investing smaller amounts at regular intervals can be one way to reduce the dependence on trying to time the “perfect moment”.

After the past few days, at least one thing is clear:

the bears are no longer controlling the market as convincingly as they appeared to be just a week ago.

Whether we are witnessing a massive short squeeze or the first days of a new and more significant uptrend remains to be seen.

But the crypto market has definitely woken up again.