Bitcoin's rapid 11% rise to $57,000 causes over $270 million in short position liquidations. Market sentiment is bullish amid institutional buying pressure and significant ETF inflows.

Bitcoin bears are facing significant losses as Bitcoin (BTC) surged by nearly 11%, briefly reaching a new yearly high of $57,000.

Per data from crypto analytics platform CoinGlass, over $161 million worth of BTC shorts were liquidated within the past day. Those looking to bet against Ether (ETH) didn't fare much better, with liquidations totaling almost $44 million in the same timeframe. The total liquidations for short positions exceeded $268 million as Bitcoin briefly touched $57,000.

Overall, more than $270 million in short positions were liquidated as the market experienced a sudden spike.

The broader market has been driven by a significant surge in Bitcoin's price, which jumped 10.8% from $51,471 to $57,035 in less than 24 hours, according to TradingView data. While Bitcoin has since cooled off to around $56,000, it remains up by 32% over the last month.

Swyftx lead analyst Pav Hundal described the crypto market as "highly active" in a statement to Cointelegraph.

"We're witnessing retail trade volumes per person that rival those seen at the peak of the last bull run in November 2021, and institutional buying pressure is strong," he said.

Like many others, Hundal pointed to the significant inflows of institutional capital into recently approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States.

According to Farside data, net inflows into the 10 Bitcoin ETFs exceeded $515 million on Feb. 26, marking one of the highest days of inflows since the ETFs were approved on Jan. 11.

"Exchange Traded Funds alone are absorbing close to a quarter of the Bitcoin currently being generated by the network," Hundal added.

Hundal's optimism for Bitcoin's future price movement was shared by several market analysts on social media platform X.

Co-founder of United States-based crypto exchange Gemini, Tyler Winklevoss, succinctly stated, "We're witnessing a strong comeback!" Meanwhile, vocal BTC bull Dan Held suggested that today's price action marked "the commencement of the Bitcoin bull run."

Welcome to the start of the Bitcoin bull run. Prepare for many restless nights.