Saudi Arabia exits mBridge as ECB eyes tokenized bonds and Bitcoin's $86K breakout sparks short liquidations; today’s BTC is near $85K in Extreme Greed. Bitcoin is trading at around $85K, up approximately 5.04% over the past 24 hours. After breaking above the $82K area that had previously capped the market, the price briefly climbed toward $86K. Ethereum is trading at around $2,730.30, up about 2.48% over the same period. The price remains within its recent recovery range. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has risen to 78 and entered Extreme Greed, up from 70 yesterday. This suggests that short-term sentiment has strengthened alongside the recovery in major crypto assets. Derivative activity has been even more pronounced. Total crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours have climbed to around USD 1.03 billion. Long liquidations totaled about USD 190 million, while short liquidations reached roughly USD 840 million. This made short positions the main source of liquidations during the latest price surge. Bitcoin recorded approximately USD 536 million in short liquidations and USD 73.3757 million in long liquidations. Ethereum saw around USD 145 million in short liquidations and USD 37.5403 million in long liquidations. These figures show that a large number of leveraged positions against the market were closed as prices moved higher. Despite the scale of liquidations, leverage has not broadly declined. Earlier data showed that open interest continued to rise, while new leveraged positions entered the market after Bitcoin broke through its key price range. Ethereum futures open interest increased 6.59% over the past 24 hours to approximately USD 36.75 billion. This indicates that traders continued to add derivatives exposure as prices recovered. U.S. risk assets also moved higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.71%, 1.49% and 2.26% respectively in the previous session, with technology stocks showing relatively stronger performance. Overall, the crypto market is currently showing a combination of rapid price recovery, concentrated short liquidations and renewed growth in open interest. Trading activity has increased sharply in the short term. At the same time, expanding leverage has kept market attention focused on spot demand, funding rates and changes in derivatives positioning.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

Saudi Arabia Exits mBridge Cross-Border CBDC Project

The Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, has ended its participation in mBridge. The central bank said the move followed the completion of a previously planned proof of concept. SAMA formally joined mBridge in June 2024 and completed the proof of concept on May 13, 2025. The central bank said ending its participation was consistent with the original plan. mBridge was launched in 2021 through a collaboration involving the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub and central banks from China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. The project was created to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions. Instead of relying on a single stablecoin for settlement, mBridge allows participating central banks to issue and use their own central bank digital currencies on a shared ledger. These digital currencies can then be used directly for cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions. After the project reached its minimum viable product stage in 2024, the Bank for International Settlements handed further development over to the participating central banks. At the time, the BIS said its departure was not politically motivated. mBridge has since drawn attention from U.S. policymakers. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in a report that this type of cross-border settlement infrastructure could eventually reduce reliance on the traditional U.S. dollar payment system for some transactions. The commission also raised potential concerns related to sanctions enforcement. SAMA has described its withdrawal as part of the original project plan and has not presented the decision as a broader policy shift away from central bank digital currencies or cross-border digital payments. Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China has continued to study the role of CBDCs and stablecoins in cross-border payments. It has also called for stronger market monitoring and greater international coordination. Cross-border digital payment infrastructure therefore remains an active area of exploration for central banks.

Bitcoin Briefly Breaks Above $86K As Short Liquidations And Leverage Rise

Bitcoin broke above the $82K area that had repeatedly limited its price performance and briefly climbed to around $86K. The move marked its highest level in nearly eight months. As the price moved quickly through a key resistance area, a large number of bearish derivatives positions were forced to close. Earlier data showed that roughly USD 750 million in short positions had already been liquidated, while total liquidations over the following 24 hours continued to rise. One important feature of the move is that the sharp reduction in short positions did not lead to a broad decline in market leverage. After Bitcoin broke through its key range, around USD 2 billion in new leveraged exposure entered the futures market. This suggests that some traders established new directional positions after earlier positions were liquidated. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF flows had previously turned negative. Combined outflows on Tuesday and Wednesday reached about USD 746 million. Flows then reversed, with around USD 160 million entering on Thursday and approximately USD 433 million on Friday. This marked a notable shift in ETF flows within the same week. As Bitcoin moved back above $82K, the average cost basis for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF investors at around $82,225 also fell below the market price again. This made the area an important reference point for monitoring ETF positioning. Bitcoin also moved back above its 50-week moving average. The long-term indicator had previously remained above the price for an extended period, so the reclaim attracted attention from some market participants. Open interest and trading volume also increased alongside the price. This shows that the move was not driven solely by existing shorts being closed. New derivatives capital also continued to enter the market. Current attention is therefore focused on whether spot and ETF flows can keep pace with rapidly rising futures open interest. Funding rates and further changes in leveraged positions also remain key indicators to watch.

European Central Bank To Invest Its Own Funds In RWA Tokenized Securities

The European Central Bank has begun preparations to invest a small portion of its own funds portfolio in euro-denominated tokenized securities. The initiative will allow the ECB to gain direct operational experience with distributed ledger technology in financial markets. Initial investments will focus on euro-denominated securities issued by euro-area central governments, regional authorities, public agencies and European supranational institutions. The size, timing and detailed structure of the investments will be decided after the preparatory work is completed. Transactions will be settled through Pontes, the Eurosystem's new settlement solution, using central bank money. The process will not depend on private stablecoins or ordinary commercial bank money for settlement. Pontes is already operational. Its main role is to connect tokenized asset markets based on distributed ledger technology with the Eurosystem's existing TARGET payment infrastructure. This allows financial institutions to settle wholesale tokenized asset transactions in central bank money. The ECB said that directly holding tokenized securities will allow it to participate in the full investment process. This includes trade execution, settlement, system operations and portfolio management. The approach will also give the central bank more direct insight into how the technology works at the institutional level. The investments will come from the ECB's own funds portfolio rather than from monetary policy asset purchase programs. One purpose of this portfolio is to generate income that supports part of the central bank's operating expenses. This gives the initiative a different function from traditional monetary policy asset purchases. Pontes is also part of the Eurosystem's broader strategy for tokenized finance. The ECB plans to expand the platform's services and operating capabilities over time so that more eligible financial institutions and market infrastructures can connect to the system. With preparations for tokenized securities investments now underway and Pontes already in operation, the ECB is moving beyond building settlement infrastructure. It is also beginning to test tokenized securities directly from the perspective of an institutional investor.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only and doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.