Bitcoin Surges Near $70K as Treasury Buyback Expansion, Short Squeeze and White House Crypto Meeting Converge

Bitcoin jumped roughly 6% on August 19, 2026, briefly approaching $70,000 and touching $69,000 intraday, driven by three simultaneous catalysts. The U.S. Treasury announced an expansion of its existing long-term bond buyback program, sending yields lower and pushing investors toward risk assets.

A break above key technical levels then triggered a short squeeze, with approximately $1 billion in short positions forcibly liquidated in roughly one minute, producing a 4% spike that carried Bitcoin past $68,000. Separately, President Trump hosted executives from Coinbase Global, Payward, and Blockchain.com at the White House, adding a regulatory-optimism tailwind. The combined moves sparked nearly $2 billion in total crypto liquidations across the market.

Ethereum outpaced Bitcoin, climbing more than 10% to break above $2,000 for the first time since June 2 and hitting a four-month high against Bitcoin, a move analysts read as bullish for altcoins broadly. Crypto-linked equities also rallied, with Strategy and Bitmine each gaining around 10%.