In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has surged by 7.9%, nearing the $70,000 mark for the first time in roughly 11 weeks, trading around $69,740 on the morning of August 20.
Daily chart of BTC/USDT on Binance. Source: TradingView.This rally was accompanied by unprecedented levels of short position liquidations. According to CoinGlass, nearly $3 billion in cryptocurrency positions were forcibly closed within a 24-hour period, with approximately $2.7 billion attributed to shorts.
Source: CoinGlass.For Bitcoin alone, the volume of liquidated shorts reached $1.42 billion, with over $1 billion liquidated in just one hour. Ethereum saw about $1.13 billion in liquidations, while Solana experienced $104.7 million. The largest single liquidation involved a Bitcoin short on Hyperliquid, totaling around $48.8 million.
As reported by CoinDesk, the current liquidation volume has surpassed the figures from October 10, 2025, when the total reached approximately $19 billion, predominantly from long positions, with shorts accounting for about $2.47 billion.
Concurrently, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted a net inflow of $517 million on August 19, marking the highest level since early May. Ethereum ETFs gained $189 million, their best performance since October 2025.
Inflow into Bitcoin ETF. Source: SoSoValue. Inflow into Ethereum ETF. Source: SoSoValue.This momentum coincided with several developments in the U.S. The Treasury announced an increase in long-term government bond buybacks, which market participants interpreted as a liquidity boost. The agency stated it would at least double the maximum amount for operations involving bonds maturing in 10 to 20 years and 20 to 30 years.
The limit for each operation will rise from $2 billion to at least $4 billion. These changes will take effect on September 9 and remain in place until the end of the current refinancing quarter on November 4. Treasury officials explained that this decision aims to enhance liquidity support in the long segment of the market, where there is a consistent demand for buyback operations.
The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds fell by about 9 basis points on Wednesday, hovering around 5.18% during the Asian session. The yield on 10-year notes dropped to approximately 4.63%.
Simultaneously, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Congress to advance the CLARITY Act, a bill aimed at structuring the cryptocurrency market. Currently, the legislation is stalled in the Senate due to disagreements over DeFi, regulations for cryptocurrency firms, and ethical constraints for politicians.
Ethereum Gains 18%
The rally extended to nearly all assets in the top 10 by market capitalization. At the time of writing, Ethereum was trading around $2,260, having increased by 17.7% in a day, according to CoinGecko. The weekly growth reached 18.8%.
Daily chart of ETH/USDT on Binance. Source: TradingView.Solana rose by over 11% to approximately $85. XRP also saw a similar increase, reaching about $1.10. Dogecoin gained around 7.38%.
Source: CoinMarketCap.HYPE emerged as one of the market leaders with a rise of over 20%, trading around $70–72. BNB showed more modest growth of about 4%, while TRX remained relatively unchanged.
Fed Maintains Threat of Rate Hike
The macroeconomic backdrop remains uncertain. On August 19, the Federal Reserve released minutes from the FOMC meeting held on July 28-29. The committee voted nine to three to keep the interest rate range at 3.5% to 3.75%.
Several members of the meeting advocated for a 25 basis point rate increase. Three FOMC members—Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari, and Lori Logan—voted against maintaining the rate, preferring a hike of a quarter percentage point instead.
According to CME FedWatch, traders estimate the likelihood of maintaining the rate at the September meeting at approximately 67%. On Polymarket, this figure is at 73%, while Kalshi reports 74%.
It's worth noting that in August, analysts from VanEck concluded that Bitcoin is showing signs of a late-stage decline, but it may be premature to declare a definitive downward trend.