Bitcoin extended a powerful rally on Aug. 20–21, surging 6.4% to $72,607 before trading near $77,169. The move put the leading cryptocurrency on track for a weekly gain of about 22%, its strongest weekly performance in more than two years.
The rally followed President Donald Trump’s call for Congress to pass the Clarity Act, which would place Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under commodity regulations rather than securities laws. The bill faces a procedural vote on Sept. 15. Trump also said CFTC Chairman Mike Selig was working to bring decentralized exchange Hyperliquid to the US, boosting Hyperliquid's token.
Short liquidations amplified the advance. CoinGlass data showed $664 million in Bitcoin short positions were liquidated over 24 hours on Aug. 20, while Fundstrat reported more than $1.2 billion in Bitcoin shorts were liquidated during the weekly surge. Analysts cautioned that Bitcoin would need to hold above $70,000 for the rally to show greater durability. Bitcoin’s 50-day simple moving average stood at $64,217 and its 200-day average was $68,975.
Ethereum gained 10%, XRP rose 16%, and crypto-linked equities followed with Robinhood up 13%, Coinbase up 7.9%, and Strategy up 6.2%. Spot and exchange-traded fund demand provided additional support, while the US Treasury’s decision to increase longer-duration debt buybacks initially pressured bond yields and supported risk-sensitive assets.
The crypto gains occurred amid broad macro risk appetite. Oil prices climbed to their highest levels in more than three weeks on Iran supply concerns, with Brent crude at $94.49 a barrel and WTI at $87.12. Gold advanced to a three-month high around $4,623 an ounce as the dollar weakened. Samsung separately outlined a potentially record shareholder return, and Anthropic was reported to be preparing for a possible IPO rivaling SpaceX's record offering.
