Bitcoin surged to $96,348 on Tuesday, its highest level since November, fueled by a wave of positive catalysts that flipped market sentiment and triggered a massive short squeeze.

One of the biggest drivers was softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data, which bolstered hopes for interest rate cuts later this year. That, paired with renewed political uncertainty around the Federal Reserve, pushed investors toward alternative assets like bitcoin and gold. As QCP Capital put it, the “Goldilocks environment” of stable inflation and resilient jobs data has reopened the door to risk assets.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

The rally forced traders betting against bitcoin to unwind their positions rapidly. In the last 24 hours, over $600 million in short positions across crypto were liquidated, including $290 million in BTC shorts, according to CoinGlass.

At the same time, institutional appetite came roaring back. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs brought in $754 million in a single day, the highest inflow since October 7. Fidelity’s fund led with $351 million, followed by Bitwise and BlackRock.

While geopolitical concerns remain, especially in Venezuela and Iran, QCP believes the market has priced in much of the uncertainty, and further escalation may even be viewed as a “buy-the-dip” opportunity.

Bitcoin’s breakout comes after weeks of underperformance, and with ETF inflows rising and macro headwinds easing, traders are once again eyeing a run toward the $100,000 level—as long as momentum holds.

Bitcoin was trading at $95,000 at 5:30 am ET.