Bitcoin FOMO Surges as Traders Pile Back In: But Crowded Bets Can Turn Fast

Bitcoin pushed past $87,000 on Monday before stabilizing a little below it. But the rally has triggered a strong surge in market optimism.

In fact, Santiment found that Bitcoin-related FOMO has reached a level not seen since late 2024.

$648M in Shorts Gone

Social media discussions are now heavily tilted toward expectations of more gains. The shift comes after a strong short squeeze pushed prices higher. Around $648 million in bearish crypto positions were liquidated within 24 hours. This added fresh buying pressure to the market.

To top that, crypto trading volume also jumped 39% during the move. However, traders are also taking on more leverage. Open interest across the crypto market rose about 7.6% to $156 billion, even after a large number of short positions were wiped out. This suggests some traders are quickly opening new positions instead of reducing risk.

According to Santiment, however, this extreme optimism can become a warning sign when market expectations become too one-sided. The current sentiment does not guarantee a price reversal. But the big jump from fear to FOMO indicates that traders are becoming increasingly confident after BTC’s latest move higher.

But some experts believe that the latest rally may have more room to run. Analyst Doctor Profit said Bitcoin is repeating a pattern seen during the 2022-2023 period. The asset recently surged past the crucial level of the 50-week moving average, which sits around $78,700. A weekly close above this could further strengthen the bullish case. The analyst also identified $88,000 as the next major target if Bitcoin clears the remaining resistance levels.

Bullish Regime

On a longer timeframe, ‘The Long Investor’ projected a Wave 5 target of $350,000 by 2030. Crypto Patel, on the other hand, has set his sights much higher. The asset’s previous major cycles showed a 364-day gap between the market peak and bottom. That same timing has now appeared again. If history keeps rhyming, the analyst sees $370,000 as a possible next destination for BTC.

After taking into consideration various cost basis models and time frames, Glassnode also stated that Bitcoin remains in a “bullish regime” while adding that its price trades above both the True Market Mean and the short-term holder cost basis.

“Holding above these levels is what historically defines a sustained uptrend.”