Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

The BTC price has run hard enough to wake up an altcoin market that had little to celebrate. From $62,821 on August 17 to $72,071 by August 20, Bitcoin gained roughly 14%, pushing against its 200-day EMA while the top 100 altcoins largely moved into the green.

BTC Price Rally Gives Altcoins Room to BreatheThis wasn’t simply a Bitcoin move. The rally has spread across the broader market, with major altcoins responding positively as traders regain some appetite for risk. Still, the biggest driver appears to have come from the derivatives market, where short sellers were caught leaning too heavily toward another leg lower.

The result was a sizeable short squeeze. As the BTC price climbed from August 17 onward, leveraged bearish positions were liquidated across the market. CoinGlass data shows total crypto liquidations reaching $3.30 billion over the latest 24-hour period.

That matters because leverage can turn an ordinary price move into something considerably more violent. Once positions begin getting liquidated, forced buying can push prices higher, creating another round of liquidations. It’s an ugly feedback loop for anyone positioned on the wrong side.

Washington Moves Help Shift Market ExpectationsThe timing also coincides with a more supportive regulatory backdrop. On August 19, President Trump hosted crypto executives at the White House and pushed Congress to accelerate passage of the CLARITY Act. The proposed legislation is proposed to offer clearer crypto jurisdiction, potentially creating a more defined framework for institutional participation.

A day earlier, the SEC’s “Regulation Crypto Assets” proposal also emerged, with a 402-page proposed rulemaking framework aimed at establishing federal offering pathways. Together, these developments have reduced some of the regulatory uncertainty cited as a barrier to institutional compliance.

That doesn’t automatically make the market bullish for long-term. But apparently, traders didn’t need much convincing once shorts started getting squeezed.

BTC Price Faces Technical Test After Sharp RecoveryThe technical picture has improved, too. MACD is showing a widening gap between its line and signal line, while the AO histogram has turned green. Both point toward improving momentum.

But there’s a catch and that is RSI which is sitting at 79.41, firmly in overheated territory, suggesting the rally may need a breather. CMF is also at 0.20, a level that has acted as a turning point for the price since January 2026, according to the provided data.

Also another uncomfortable part is the 200-day EMA. A rejection could send the BTC price back toward $60,730, repeating the pattern seen in May when Bitcoin price fell from $81,143 to that level after encountering resistance around the same indicator.

If buyers instead reclaim the 200-day EMA and hold above it, the next major upside objective comes around $90,000. For the BTC price, that’s the clean bullish scenario. First, though, it has to prove that this rally can survive its most important resistance test.

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Bitcoin Eyes $74K After Rally as Analyst Flags $67K Support

Bitcoin’s surge above $72,000, once again attracting investor attention, hasn’t convinced renowned BTC critic and gold advocate Peter Schiff. Schiff argues that the recent rise isn’t the beginning of a sustained uptrend and urged investors to sell Bitcoin and buy gold.

Economist Schiff, known for his long-standing criticism of BTC, stated in a post on his X account today that Bitcoin’s rise above $72,000 was “not a breakout, but a fake move.”

Schiff attributed the sudden rise in BTC price to the US Treasury Department’s surprising bond buyback announcement. He stated that the Treasury’s move reinforced expectations of easing financial conditions, creating short-term optimism in the cryptocurrency market.

“Bitcoin’s rise above $72,000 is not a breakout, but a false start. The Treasury’s buyback announcement caught the markets off guard,” said Schiff, adding that Bitcoin investors have long believed that looser monetary policies would boost both gold and Bitcoin.

Schiff: “Easy Money Benefits Gold, Not Bitcoin” According to Schiff, this expectation among investors is only partially true. While acknowledging that looser financial conditions and increased liquidity could support gold prices, Schiff argued that the same effect would not be permanent on Bitcoin.

Schiff stated in his post, “BTC investors have long believed that a return to easy money policies would be the catalyst for both gold and Bitcoin to rise. They are only half right. Buy Bitcoin, buy gold.”

*This is not investment advice.

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In brief Bitcoin climbed above $72,000 Thursday after gaining nearly 15% since Monday. Analysts pointed to Treasury bond purchases, policy headlines, and a massive short squeeze as drivers of the rally. With much of the short squeeze exhausted, analysts are watching spot demand, technical levels, and Treasury yields. Bitcoin's rally above $72,000 wiped out billions of dollars in bearish bets, but analysts say it will need fresh buyers to keep climbing.

Bitcoin reached its highest price since June on Thursday after gaining nearly 15% since Monday, with more than $3 billion in crypto short positions liquidated. That's the largest liquidation of short positions on Bitcoin since at least 2021. What's more, spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $517 million Wednesday, their largest single-day inflow since May.

Myriad: Bitcoin price next move? Click to make your prediction.Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, attributed the rally to the U.S. Treasury buying long-dated government bonds, which markets interpreted as increasing liquidity, and President Donald Trump suggesting that the U.S. government could purchase Bitcoin.

"The rally may be sustainable if spot demand growth continues after the initial impact of these macro events," Moreno told Decrypt. "Officially we are still in a bear market, so a price pull back is possible, more so after this sudden increase."

Moreno said he is watching Bitcoin's 365-day moving average, currently around $83,000, along with CryptoQuant's profit-and-loss index and bull score, neither of which has turned bullish.

"To confirm that a bull market has started, I'm watching CryptoQuant's P&L Index, specifically if it crosses its 365-day moving average to the upside, which it has still not crossed," Moreno said. "Moreover, CryptoQuant's bull score continues in bearish mode, so I'm waiting for it to switch into bull territory."

Nansen Senior Research Analyst Nicolai Sondergaard said Bitcoin's technical picture has improved after reclaiming its 200-day simple moving average around $69,000. Bitcoin also sits about 8% above its 20- and 50-day moving averages, while its MACD, a momentum indicator used to track changes in price trends, has turned bullish.

"The key line is the 200-day SMA near $69,000 and holding above it keeps the breakout valid, while a close back below would signal a failed move," Sondergaard told Decrypt. "Above, the recent high ~$72,824 is immediate resistance."

However, Sondergaard warned that much of the rally was driven by liquidations rather than sustained buying, leaving Bitcoin vulnerable once the short squeeze runs out. Positioning remains mixed, he said, though whales and public figures on Hyperliquid are net long by $27.9 million and $33.9 million, respectively.

"The largest risk is that this was a short-squeeze spike, not fresh sustained buying," he said. "Once forced covering exhausts, thin follow-through can reverse quickly."

Sondergaard said trader positioning remains mixed and warned that "any reversal in that narrative or a broader risk-off move could stall the rally fast."

Adam McCarthy, a researcher at crypto trading firm Lo:Tech, also attributed the move to the Treasury's expanded buyback program and the short squeeze. More than half of Wednesday's gain occurred within a single hour as traders were forced out of a one-sided short position, he said.

"The Treasury's buyback expansion gave the market a reason to reprice, but more than half of Wednesday's gain came in one hour when a one-sided short position was forced out," McCarthy told Decrypt. "That fuel is spent, so the next leg has to be bought rather than squeezed."

McCarthy said he is watching the 30-year Treasury yield, particularly whether it moves back toward 5.3%, and crypto funding rates for signs of sustained buying.

"In crypto, whether funding starts showing a real long premium, because that's what actual buying looks like," he said.

McCarthy warned that the short positions that helped drive Bitcoin higher have largely been cleared.

"The short base is largely cleared and nothing has replaced it, so the move that got us here can't repeat," McCarthy said. "And if dealers are short gamma at $70k as we think, the hedging that exaggerated the way up exaggerates the way down."

Bitwise Research Analyst Ishmael Asad was more bullish, calling the rally the strongest indication yet that Bitcoin has bottomed. He pointed to the Treasury's expanded bond buybacks, the SEC's proposed Regulation Crypto Assets framework, and this week's White House crypto summit as catalysts.

"After this steep leg up, I wouldn’t expect the rally to continue at the same pace from here," Asad told Decrypt. "But I would take this move as the strongest confirmation we’ve seen yet that the bottom is in."

Asad said much of the potential downside, including the failure to pass the Clarity Act this year and possible rate hikes, has already been priced in. Still, he said a return to a bull market would require additional catalysts.

"The market will likely move sideways or higher in the coming months as we look towards the next milestones, like a potential Senate vote on Clarity in September," he said.

CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill also expects conditions to remain favorable, but said Bitcoin is more likely to trade within a range than enter a sustained breakout.

"The rally is primarily a macro story rather than a crypto specific one," Butterfill told Decrypt. According to Butterfill, recent inflation and employment data have weakened expectations for further Federal Reserve tightening, while large Bitcoin holders have stopped selling and begun accumulating again.

“We expect the constructive backdrop to persist, but we would characterize the market as range-bound for now rather than in a sustained breakout, as accumulation by large holders is not yet at a scale that would imply one,” he said.

Digital asset investment products have also attracted about $1.3 billion so far this week. Still, Butterfill expects Bitcoin to remain range-bound because accumulation by large holders is not yet strong enough to support a sustained breakout.

Myriad: Bitcoin price on Sunday? Click to make your prediction.Bitcoin's move above its 200-day moving average has improved the technical picture, Butterfill said, with $80,000 now a key level to watch.

"On the upside, the US $80,000 area remains the important boundary, and a decisive move through it would likely require clearer confirmation from the Federal Reserve that policy risks have shifted away from further tightening," he said.

Monetary policy, he added, remains the biggest risk, noting that persistent inflation could force the Federal Reserve to keep policy tighter for longer, reversing the liquidity conditions supporting Bitcoin's rally.

"With accumulation by large holders still modest in scale, the market lacks the depth of conviction that typically underpins a durable breakout," Butterfill said.

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Expert Analysts Assess Bitcoin’s Latest Rally: Is It Real or a Trap?

9 hours ago

Crypto analyst Darkfost wrote that Bitcoin notched its largest single-day gain since February 2026 yesterday, surging 7.1% in 24 hours. The rally pushed Bitcoin’s price above the cost basis of short-term holders (STHs), triggering massive profit-taking among STHs. Data shows short-term holders transferred over 44,300 BTC to trading platforms yesterday, marking the largest profit-taking volume since 2026. Currently, the STH cost basis stands at roughly $67,100. After Bitcoin broke above this level, some previously profitable holders began moving their assets. Darkfost attributed the rally to multiple factors. U.S. Treasury Secretary Besant previously announced the U.S. would expand its long-term Treasury repurchase operations by double, driving a sharp decline in long-term U.S. Treasury yields. Later, Trump spoke at a dedicated crypto industry meeting at the White House, stating the U.S. is considering purchasing large amounts of BTC, urging Congress to pass the Clarity Act, and expressing his wish to facilitate Hyperliquid’s entry into the U.S. market. The market remains divided on whether these policy statements are mere discussions or the U.S. government’s genuine intent to become a global crypto hub. Currently, as Bitcoin attempts to break through key resistance levels—including the STH cost basis—the on-chain behavior of short-term holders continues to warrant close monitoring.

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FORBES: Bitcoin's Odds Of Hitting $80,000 This Year Double Overnight As Price Suddenly Tops $70,000

COINTELEGRAPH: US debt tops $40T stoking debate on what it means for Bitcoin

Bitcoin demand turns positive for first time since October 2025 all-time high

20h05 ▪ 6 min read ▪ by Luc Jose A.

Summarize this article with:

The crypto market has just reminded how explosive bearish bets can become. In just 48 hours, a massive wave of short position liquidations hit derivatives, while bitcoin approached a major psychological threshold. Behind this acceleration is a decisive macroeconomic factor: the surprise inflow of liquidity in the United States. Between short squeeze, American budget intervention and on-chain investor repositioning, this scenario reveals the forces that could now dictate bitcoin’s trajectory.

In brief The crypto derivatives market has just recorded a historic purge of over 3.1 billion dollars in short positions in only 48 hours, pushing Bitcoin closest to the 72,000 dollar mark. This powerful bullish movement was directly triggered by a decision from the US Treasury to double its debt buyback program, causing a sudden liquidity injection into financial markets. Capturing alone 1.65 billion dollars of sell-side liquidations, Bitcoin orchestrated a massive short squeeze that took a significant portion of speculators by surprise. Taking advantage of this sudden rise, short-term investors nevertheless unloaded a record volume of 43,300 BTC in profit to exchange platforms, creating a significant supply cushion for the coming days. The largest short position liquidation ever recorded in the crypto market The derivatives market has just experienced two days of forced capitulation of unparalleled intensity for short sellers. According to aggregated data from the analysis platform CoinGlass, short position liquidations across the entire crypto market exceeded the 3.1 billion dollar mark between August 19 and 20. Thursday now stands as “the largest daily short position liquidation ever recorded” in the history of these assets.

In this instability, the BTC/USD pair played its role as the main driver by capturing on its own more than half of the losses suffered by bearish investors, representing a total amount of 1.65 billion dollars in short position liquidations. Under constant pressure from forced buybacks, the bitcoin price rose to reach a local peak at 71,992 dollars, marking its highest level recorded since early June.

To fully grasp this movement without distorting the reality of the figures, it is necessary to observe this sequence in its global context. Including all positions, both buying and selling, the data provided by CoinMarketCap set the total liquidations for Thursday at 3.25 billion dollars, ranking this day seventh historically among the largest liquidation events by absolute dollar value.

This volume remains admittedly below the shock absorbed by buyers during the 20 billion dollar liquidation wave following bitcoin’s all-time high at 126,200 dollars in October 2025. This recent sequence stands out, however, by its almost exclusively bullish dynamic, which trapped thousands of traders convinced that the resistance zone would hold.

Several key numerical metrics summarize the unprecedented scale of this situation :

3.1 billion dollars : total amount of short position liquidations recorded in 48 hours ; 1.65 billion dollars: portion of short liquidations directly attributable to bitcoin ; 71,992 dollars : the local peak reached by BTC, the highest since June ; 3.25 billion dollars : the cumulative total of all liquidations on Thursday. A bullish impulse fueled by the US Treasury liquidity injection At the origin of this devastating buying impulse for short sellers lies a macroeconomic decision directly from Washington. The market immediately reacted to a liquidity intervention by the US Treasury, which decided to double the amount of its debt repurchase operations. This sudden cash injection into the bond system instantly reflected on risk assets.

Bitcoin’s rapid rebound on Wednesday, marking its highest level in 11 weeks, triggered an unrelenting squeeze mechanism: crossing sellers’ invalidation levels caused emergency buybacks, mechanically propelling the bullish momentum.

The contagion effect caused by the easing of financial conditions caught a significant part of the institutional market positioned bearish off guard. Furthermore, successive breaches of key technical levels transformed sellers’ stop-loss orders into market buy orders, accelerating the rise of the leading crypto. This upward suction phenomenon once again demonstrates the close correlation between central bank or Treasury liquidity and risk appetite on crypto trading platforms.

Massive profit-taking among short-term holders Alongside this futures market turmoil, on-chain data reveals a pragmatic reaction from investors. Taking advantage of this liquidity return and rebound they hadn’t seen since summer, short-term holders, i.e., wallets holding their UTXOs for less than 155 days, massively unloaded their positions.

According to platform CryptoQuant, they transferred a record volume of 44,300 BTC in profit to exchange platforms, marking their largest profit-taking since the beginning of the year. This positive capitulation is confirmed by the SOPR (Spent Output Profit Ratio) indicator applied to short-term holders. Today, this ratio climbed to 1.01, reaching its highest level since April and attesting that most moved coins finally traded above their average acquisition price.

This behavior reflects a strong desire among recent buyers to secure capital after several months of stagnation or non-existent latent capital gains. The return above the average purchase price for this investor profile often acts as a major psychological resistance test. Thus, the simultaneous inflow of more than 44,000 coins into centralized order books now imposes a significant supply cushion that spot buyers will have to fully absorb if the trend wants to maintain momentum.

The interaction between this massive short position flushing and the simultaneous arrival of this significant BTC volume on centralized platforms paints a complex landscape for the coming weeks. On one hand, the forced disappearance of a colossal volume of sell positions cleans the order book and reduces the risk of immediate bearish pressure due to leverage. On the other hand, the market’s ability to absorb the token flow put back into circulation by relieved investors exiting at cost or slight gain will determine if the 72,000 dollar threshold was just a fleeting peak fueled by liquidations or the solid foundation of a sustainable bullish trend recovery.

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Luc Jose A.

Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.

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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that Bitcoin (BTC) could experience a strong upward trend in the coming years, adding that reaching the $300,000 to $400,000 range by 2030 is “very likely.”

Appearing on the Varney & Co. program on Fox Business Network, Armstrong shared his long-term expectations regarding the price of Bitcoin, while also drawing attention to recent developments in cryptocurrency regulation in the US.

Armstrong stated, “Looking ahead to the next few years, say by 2030, I think it’s very likely we’ll see Bitcoin at the $300,000 and $400,000 levels. We’ll see how it progresses after that.”

Bitcoin surged sharply, surpassing the $72,000 level, in the period following Armstrong’s statements. BTC’s gains in the last 24 hours approached 10%, and market activity accelerated with the crypto-friendly statements from Washington.

Armstrong: There’s a Great Sense of Urgency in the Trump Administration Coinbase CEO stated that he also attended a meeting held by US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday with high-ranking figures from the cryptocurrency and traditional finance sectors.

According to Armstrong, one of the most important items on the meeting’s agenda was the long-debated CLARITY Act.

Armstrong said the following regarding the matter:

“Just yesterday, the chairman had a meeting with top regulators from the SEC and the CFTC. This was the main topic of discussion. There was a strong sense of urgency within this administration: to complete and enact CLARITY.”

Following the meeting, Trump also called on Congress to move forward with the Clarity Act, describing the legislation as a “very, very powerful” piece of law.

The bill, which was previously expected to be voted on in August, is now expected to be put to a vote in September following the delay.

The long-awaited CLARITY Act aims to create a comprehensive regulatory framework in the US that determines under what conditions digital assets are classified as securities, commodities, or stablecoins used for payment purposes.

The cryptocurrency sector has argued for years that the legal status of digital assets in the US needs to be more clearly defined. If the bill becomes law, it is expected that the jurisdiction of regulatory bodies such as the SEC and CFTC in the crypto market will also become clearer.

However, the CLARITY Act struggled to progress throughout much of 2026 due to ongoing debates between the banking sector and crypto companies regarding stablecoin yields.

Some banks have warned that crypto companies offering high returns to stablecoin holders could lead to a shift of deposits from traditional banks to crypto platforms.

Armstrong, however, said that not the entire banking sector was opposed to the bill.

The Coinbase CEO said, “There are actually many banks that have stated their support for the CLARITY Act. Most banks acknowledge that it gives them new powers and allows them to grow their businesses thanks to this new technology. That’s great. However, I can say that there are still a few banks that oppose it.”

*This is not investment advice.

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THE STREET: Donald Trump just made Cathie Wood's $1.5 million Bitcoin target look less crazy

Coldcard firmware update requires affected users to move Bitcoin

In brief XRP gained 10.40% on Wednesday alone, its biggest daily jump since February 6, then extended the rally Thursday, up roughly 30% for the week. The move traces back to Bitcoin's break above $72,000, fueled by a record short squeeze and a U.S. Treasury plan to double long-bond buybacks starting September 9. XRP's own ETF inflows fell during the spike even as the token outperformed Bitcoin, and futures open interest has already dropped more than 11% off its rally-day peak. XRP, the cryptocurrency created by the co-founders of Ripple, is trading near $1.29, up a whopping 30% since last weekend's close under $1.

The move represents the coin’s strongest week in months, and one that started from a level it hadn't touched since right before its 2024 election pump. The token bottomed at $0.9862 last week, the same zone it sat in just before November 2024's post-election rally carried it toward an all-time high near $3.65.

Myriad: XRP price next move? Click to make your prediction.Wednesday's session did the heavy lifting. XRP gained 10.40% that day, its sharpest single-day move since February 6, when the token also jumped more than 20%. Thursday brought a second leg higher, pushing the weekly candle toward $1.32, the closest it has been to breaking the average price of the last 200 days since the beginning of the year..

XRP price data. Image: TradingviewThe spark was Bitcoin, as is typically the case with altcoins (everything other than BTC in crypto). Bitcoin punched past $72,000 Thursday, its highest price since a June flash crash, after the U.S. Treasury said it would double long-bond buybacks to at least $4 billion per operation starting September 9. The announcement triggered $3 billion in short liquidations over 24 hours and landed hours before Trump met crypto executives from Coinbase, Ripple, and Robinhood at the White House.

That’s one way to read the bullish move, but it’s worth noting that XRP outran what its usual correlation to Bitcoin would predict. On the daily chart, the Relative Strength Index, or RSI, spiked to 79.2.

RSI measures momentum on a scale from 0 to 100, with low figures indicating the asset is oversold and high numbers signalling overbought. At nearly 80, XRP is deep into overbought territory. The coin’s Average Directional Index, or ADX, score is holding well above 29, indicating an increasing trend strength due to the explosive movement. (ADX measures trend strength, regardless of direction, with anything over 25 signaling a confirmed trend.)

The money backing the rally tells a different story. Daily XRP ETF inflows fell from $5.81 million to $2.35 million the same day the token beat Bitcoin’s gains, while Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $517 million, their biggest single-day haul since May.

XRP ETF data. Image: CoinGlassFutures open interest has already dropped 11.31% from its rally-day reading, and XRP still trades about 17.5% below its 200-day trend.

In a nutshell, that all means this: It’s a big move, yes, which is sure to make XRP holders very happy. But in order to convince the bears, given the long-term trajectory, the asset must continue posting gains—even if at a slower pace—in order to activate signals of a sustained trend reversal.

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Bitcoin blasted past $72,000 and Ethereum surged to roughly $2,300 on August 19-20, delivering what amounts to the best single-day performance for both assets in months. The combined rally of 18% to 20% didn’t come from nowhere. It came from a perfect storm of ETF money, forced liquidations, and a macro backdrop that’s suddenly making digital assets look a lot like the hard assets institutional investors crave.

The catalyst was unmistakable: US spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed $517 million in a single day, while Ether ETFs pulled in $189 million. Those are the strongest daily inflow figures in months, and they tell a clear story about where big money is placing its bets.

The short squeeze that ate $2.7 billion For weeks leading up to the breakout, Bitcoin had been stuck in a frustrating range between $64,000 and $69,000. Ethereum wasn’t doing much better, hovering around $1,900. More than $2.7 billion in short positions were liquidated in a single day as prices ripped higher.

When aggressive buying pushed prices above the upper end of that range, stop-losses and margin calls kicked in simultaneously. Traders who had been betting on continued sideways action, or worse, a dip, were forced to buy back their positions at increasingly painful prices. Each wave of liquidations pushed prices higher, which triggered more liquidations, which pushed prices higher still.

Why hard assets, why now The macro backdrop set the stage. US regulatory developments, particularly momentum around the Clarity Act, have been removing one of the biggest overhangs that kept institutional money on the sidelines. Treasury-related liquidity signals also played a supporting role, boosting risk appetite across markets. When the government effectively loosens financial conditions, assets with fixed or predictable supply schedules, like Bitcoin’s hard cap of 21 million coins, start looking particularly attractive to investors worried about currency debasement.

ETF flows tell the real story The $517 million flowing into spot Bitcoin ETFs in a single session deserves some context. These products have matured significantly since their initial launch, and daily flows of that magnitude signal more than just retail enthusiasm chasing price action.

Ether ETFs pulling in $189 million is arguably even more significant on a relative basis. Ethereum’s ETF products have generally attracted far less attention than their Bitcoin counterparts, so a sudden spike in inflows suggests that institutional appetite is broadening beyond just the flagship cryptocurrency.

The combined $706 million in ETF inflows in a single day creates a mechanical buying pressure that’s difficult to ignore. These funds need to purchase the underlying assets to back their shares, meaning the inflows directly translate into spot market demand. Unlike futures-based speculation, this is actual Bitcoin and Ethereum being taken off exchanges and held in custody.

For context, Bitcoin had spent the first half of August trading in a roughly $5,000 range. Breaking above $69,000 with conviction was the technical trigger, but ETF flows provided the fundamental ammunition to sustain the move all the way past $72,000.

What comes next The regulatory angle provides reason for cautious optimism. If the Clarity Act continues gaining legislative momentum, it removes a structural barrier that has historically caused institutional investors to limit their crypto exposure. Clearer rules don’t just make existing investors more comfortable. They unlock entirely new categories of buyers, from pension funds to insurance companies, that have compliance frameworks preventing them from allocating to assets with ambiguous regulatory status.

The more interesting signal may be Ethereum’s participation. In previous cycles, ETH often lagged Bitcoin during the early stages of a rally before playing catch-up. The fact that both assets moved aggressively on the same day, with meaningful ETF inflows into both products, suggests the market is treating this as a sector-wide repricing rather than a Bitcoin-only event.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Galaxy Digital Inc (NASDAQ:GLXY) stock traded higher on Thursday as digital asset prices advanced, with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) trading near $71,471 and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) pushing past $2,268, according to CoinMarketCap data.

The rise in digital assets coincides with broader momentum across cryptocurrency-related equities.

Also, on Wednesday, Citigroup maintained its Neutral rating on Galaxy Digital while lowering its price forecast to $26 per share.

White House SummitThe sector momentum follows policy updates from a White House summit held Wednesday. During the event, President Donald Trump reiterated his commitment to secure U.S. leadership in cryptocurrency and emerging technologies.

The meeting included SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig and executives from sector firms including Coinbase Global, Robinhood, Ripple and Kalshi.

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At the summit, Trump urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act to set regulatory standards for digital assets.

Banking ExpansionIn operational developments, Bank Leumi announced a partnership on Aug. 14 with Galaxy Digital to offer digital asset trading to its customers.

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The agreement makes Bank Leumi the first bank in Israel to offer digital asset trading services, leveraging GalaxyOne Institutional and Galaxy’s Custody Infrastructure platform, formerly known as GK8. The service is expected to launch in early 2027.

Lior Lamesh, CEO of Galaxy Israel, stated, "Leumi is the first bank in Israel to bring digital assets to its customers, and it chose Galaxy to make it possible."

Galaxy Digital (GLXY) Critical Levels To WatchFrom a trend standpoint, GLXY is in a "bounce inside a bigger downtrend" setup: it’s trading 9.8% above its 20-day SMA ($21.03), but still 7.4% below its 50-day SMA ($24.95) and about 9%–10% below its 100-day and 200-day averages. That mix usually signals short-term strength that hasn’t yet flipped the intermediate trend back to bullish.

Momentum is best framed through RSI, which sits at 52.58—neutral and consistent with a stock that’s chopping rather than trending hard.

The bigger longer-term caution flag is the death cross that occurred in August (the 50-day SMA falling below the 200-day SMA), which often keeps rallies "sold into" until price can reclaim key moving averages. Traders will also remember the recent swing high in June and swing low in July as the most recent pivot points defining the current range.

Key Resistance: $26 Key Support: $21 GLXY Price Action: Galaxy Digital shares were up 5.21% to $23.22 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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The crypto market is now on an explosive price run, with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP hitting multi-week highs after several months of disappointing performance.

Notably, the trigger happened yesterday, August 19, as trading activity surged across top exchanges like Binance. In particular, combined spot and perpetual trading volume of BTC, ETH, and XRP reached $46.6 billion, according to CryptoQuant data.

The latest spike marked the highest combined trading volume since June 5, when activity reached roughly $59.4 billion. Yet, the August 19 total remained about 21.5% below that peak as Bitcoin broke higher and regained momentum.

Perpetual Markets Drive Trading Surge Perpetual contracts accounted for most of the activity, generating about $42.7 billion, or 91.7% of the combined volume.

Bitcoin perpetual volume led the market at approximately $22 billion, followed by Ethereum at $20 billion. XRP perpetual volume reached roughly $718 million.

Spot markets added another $3.85 billion. This included about $1.96 billion in BTC volume, $1.69 billion in ETH volume, and $198 million in XRP volume.

Essentially, perpetual trading activity was roughly 11 times larger than spot volume, highlighting the dominant role of derivatives in the latest market move.

Chart for Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum Spot and Perpetual Volume | CryptoQuant Bitcoin Breaks Above $71,500; XRP and Ethereum Follow The surge in trading activity coincided with a sharp Bitcoin rally. BTC broke above $70,000 today for the first time since June. Notably, just yesterday, it traded at $64,400 but has soared by more than 12% to $72,307 at press time.

The increase in volume suggests the breakout was due to stronger market participation, particularly in leveraged perpetual markets.

Meanwhile, the momentum spilled into the altcoin market almost immediately, with many coins posting more impressive gains than BTC.

For instance, Ethereum has surged by 19.25% over the past day, reaching $2,285 and nearly erasing all the losses recorded over the last 90 days.

XRP has also surged by 16%, reaching $1.15 after touching $0.9800 last week. However, its 90-day performance still remains deeply negative, at a 15.35% decline.

Key Factors Helping Crypto Surge Notably, the acceleration in crypto trading activity follows changes in the broader macroeconomic backdrop.

Yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed top crypto and financial leaders for a meeting on the future of digital assets. These included executives from Ripple, Coinbase, Chainlink, Kraken, Robinhood, and Nasdaq, making the gathering a “who’s who” of finance, crypto, and technology.

Trump said his administration had “ended the war on crypto” and outlined its digital-asset agenda, including the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Digital Asset Stockpile, stablecoin legislation, and efforts to modernize financial rules for blockchain-based markets.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury announced plans to at least double liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated Treasury securities, increasing the previous maximum of $2 billion per operation to at least $4 billion, beginning September 9.

Longer-term Treasury yields subsequently declined, while the U.S. dollar weakened. U.S.-Canada trade tensions also showed signs of easing after Washington delayed planned 50% tariffs on Canadian imports for three days as negotiations continued.

With Bitcoin now trading above $72,200, stronger trading activity, a major BTC breakout, and shifting macroeconomic conditions could keep volatility high across the BTC, ETH, and XRP markets.

DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

1.15 Million Ethereum (ETH) Left Exchanges – And The Exodus Isn’t Slowing

Ethereum ETFs Draw $189 Million in Biggest Single-Day Haul in 10 Months

Following the significant surge in the cryptocurrency market that began last night, bullish expectations are strengthening, and popular crypto analyst Ansem has made a new prediction that has caught the attention of investors.

Ansem, in a post from his X account, suggested that an equally weighted portfolio consisting of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Hyperliquid (HYPE), and PUMP tokens could yield a 3 to 5x return within the next two years.

A Special Review of Hype and Pump! One of the most striking points in the analyst’s assessment was the emphasis on HYPE and PUMP.

The analyst argued that HYPE and PUMP offered the most attractive potential in terms of risk-return ratio among the five assets he mentioned and could outperform the others.

According to the analyst, these two tokens have the potential to outperform larger cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and SOL in the coming period.

Holding equal weights across the five assets can amplify the impact of higher-volatility hype and pumps on portfolio performance. While this could increase potential returns, it can also increase the overall risk and volatility of the portfolio.

However, this strategy also carries a significant risk. If assets with higher volatility, such as those fueled by hype and pump, experience sharp declines in value, the overall performance of the portfolio could be negatively impacted.

Finally, it should be noted that the analyst’s assessment reflects personal market expectations and is not a definitive price prediction. The direction the crypto market will take in the coming years depends on many factors, including global liquidity conditions, interest rate policies, regulatory developments, institutional investor interest, and Bitcoin’s overall market trend.

*This is not investment advice.

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Bitcoin Rewarded 1 of 2 US Interventions. Bessent Just Promised More

Crypto Market Update August 20: Bitcoin Breaks 200-day EMA After Historic Short Squeeze, as HYPE and PEPE Soar

TLDR Bitcoin jumped as much as 8.7% Wednesday, hitting an intraday high of $69,749. That’s Bitcoin’s biggest one-day move since March 4 and its highest price since June 1. The rally followed a U.S. Treasury plan to double long-bond buybacks starting September 9. Over $1.14 billion in short positions were liquidated across crypto in a single hour. Prediction markets flipped from 70% bearish odds to a near coin flip within 24 hours. Bitcoin jumped as much as 8.7% on Wednesday, hitting an intraday high of $69,749. That’s its steepest one-day move since March 4.

The price also marked Bitcoin’s highest level since June 1. Traders had not seen a green candle like this in over five months.

The rally was not sparked by crypto news. The U.S. Treasury said it will double its long-bond buybacks from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation, starting September 9.

That move pushed long-end yields lower and weakened the dollar. Lower yields make non-yielding assets like Bitcoin more attractive to hold.

A weaker dollar also makes dollar-priced assets cheaper for foreign buyers. Analysts have started calling this pattern “QE Lite.”

Here Comes QE Lite: Yields, Dollar Tumble, Gold Spikes After Treasury Unexpectedly Doubles Size Of Long-End Treasury Buybacks https://t.co/tkGPY0BEf0

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 19, 2026

What Else Drove the Rally The Treasury announcement landed the same day as a White House meeting between crypto executives and regulators. The SEC also proposed easing registration rules for some digital-asset offerings.

The combination pushed the market higher fast. Within an hour, $1.14 billion in short positions were liquidated across crypto, according to CoinGlass.

Bitcoin alone accounted for $677.64 million of those liquidations. The squeeze forced traders betting on a price drop to buy back in.

Crypto-linked stocks moved higher too. Strategy gained nearly 12%, Coinbase rose 9%, and Circle and BitMine each climbed roughly 9% to 10%.

Prediction Markets Scramble The rally caught prediction markets off guard. On Myriad, a market asking whether Bitcoin would pump to $84,000 or dump to $55,000 had been pricing roughly 70% odds of the dump just days earlier.

By Wednesday afternoon those odds had flipped to nearly even. The dump side sat at 51.9%, while the pump side rose to 48.1%.

Bitcoin Price on CoinGecko Longer-term markets barely moved. Polymarket’s 2026 Bitcoin price market was pricing a 56% chance BTC touches $55,000 before year-end and 51% odds of reaching $75,000, figures that held steady from last week.

Kalshi traders had been even more cautious before the rally. They gave Bitcoin only a 54% chance of clearing $67,500 in August and 31% odds of hitting $70,000, both levels Bitcoin passed on Wednesday.

The gap between near-term and year-end predictions tells its own story. Short-term traders were caught off guard by a move they hadn’t priced in.

The next price level to watch sits at $70,284, the lower edge of a resistance band on Bitcoin’s chart. A daily close above that level could open the door toward $73,245.

Losing the $68,000 level would pull Bitcoin back into the trading range that has held since June.

Table of contents

The market has started rewarding dip buyers again, but the on-chain ledger is not yet confirming a durable shift. Bitcoin is still trading below the roughly $68,500 short-term holder cost basis and the $75,800 true market mean. According to the market update covering Glassnode’s latest models, that pricing structure keeps the market inside a capitulation regime even as leveraged traders begin to lean long again.

The divergence is the story. Perpetual futures demand has turned positive, and ETF flows are stabilizing, but the Coinbase Premium remains negative. In plain terms, derivatives traders are willing to chase a bounce while U.S. spot buyers have not returned with enough force to confirm a change in regime. Glassnode’s read is blunt: until yields ease and the profit/loss ratio recovers toward 2, any Bitcoin rebound should be treated as a local rally rather than a broader trend reversal.

The Cost Basis Overhang Price relative to cost basis matters because short-term holders often react to breakeven levels. With Bitcoin below $68,500, recent buyers are underwater on average. The true market mean at $75,800 sits even higher, so the broader market is also carrying unrealized losses. That creates overhead supply if price approaches those levels, which is a structural reason rallies keep fading even when futures positioning improves.

Glassnode’s framework puts emphasis on the interaction between those cost basis levels and realized profit/loss. A rebound can look healthy on a momentum chart while still failing to repair the damage recorded in on-chain spending behavior.

Capitulation Without Full Exhaustion One metric keeps this cycle distinct. Relative Unrealized Loss peaked at only about 25%, far below the more than 60% seen in previous cycles. That could mean the market has not experienced the kind of cleansing flush that historically marks a bottom. It could also mean holders absorbed the drawdown better this time. Either way, it leaves less clarity about how much of the capitulation phase is already over.

The 90-day Realized Profit/Loss Ratio sits at 0.75. That is above the sub-0.5 level associated with seller exhaustion in earlier downturns, but still well below the 2 level Glassnode says would indicate a recovering trend. In other words, sellers are not completely exhausted, and profit-taking has not returned in a way that signals real accumulation.

Spot Demand Is the Missing Variable The negative Coinbase Premium is the cleanest signal that U.S. spot demand remains weak. ETF flow stabilization may sound supportive, but flows into listed products do not always translate into aggressive spot buying on U.S. venues. Derivative-led moves can unwind quickly when funding costs reset or liquidations cascade.

Institutional activity has been moving in different directions. Some money has flowed into tokenized real-world assets, as tracked in the latest weekly tokenization roundup, while weekly altcoin gainers have continued to draw speculative attention. That rotation can keep Bitcoin spot books thinner than the derivatives tape suggests.

Regulatory noise has not helped. With a Senate fight over U.S. crypto legislation still unresolved, some spot buyers may be waiting for clearer rules before adding exposure. The uncertainty is not new, but it matters more when price is below key cost basis levels and macro yields are still the main constraint.

The yield backdrop is the control variable. Glassnode specifically points to easing yields as a condition for trend reversal, which places the next move partly outside crypto’s own market structure. If yields do not ease, spot demand may remain muted even if futures traders press longs.

What to Watch Next The thresholds are now defined. A sustained move back above the short-term holder cost basis would be the first sign that spot buyers are absorbing supply. A push toward the true market mean would be stronger still. The more important shift, however, is behavioral: the realized profit/loss ratio needs to climb toward 2, not just tick higher for a few days.

Until that happens, the market is in a position where sharp bounces can feel like recoveries but remain dependent on leverage. Local rallies are not failures in market structure. They are just not the same as a trend change, and Glassnode’s data draws that line clearly.

AUTHOR

Entrepreneur and freelance writer based in Nakuru, Kenya. I cover cryptocurrency, the Blockchain technology, and financial topics. It’s my joy to transform the simplest phrases in a way they reach a reader’s heart to help them discover how crypto is disrupting the world as we have known it. I believe in transforming the world, one word at a time.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

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