Bitcoin Hits $70,000 for First Time Since June as Trump Pushes Crypto Legislation and Treasury Doubles Bond Buybacks

Bitcoin surged past $70,000 on August 19 for the first time since June 2, climbing roughly 8% on the day and adding approximately $180 billion to the broader crypto market cap. The rally was driven by two overlapping catalysts: President Trump hosted top crypto executives at the White House, where he pressed Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, the digital asset market structure bill with a Senate procedural vote scheduled for September 15, and separately floated the prospect of a sizable government Bitcoin purchase. Attending executives included Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss of Gemini, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev.

The U.S. Treasury also announced it would double its long-term bond buyback operations from $2 billion to $4 billion, a move investors read as supportive of market liquidity and risk appetite. The price surge triggered a cascade of short liquidations across crypto markets.

Figures vary by source: BeInCrypto reported $1.23 billion liquidated, Cointelegraph cited $2.5 billion over 24 hours, and AshCrypto put the total at $2.66 billion, describing it as the largest short liquidation event in crypto history. Ether outperformed Bitcoin with a gain of roughly 10 percent, while Solana rose about 7 percent and crypto-linked equities including Coinbase and Bullish also rallied sharply.