Bitcoin’s first push above $70,000 in two months has erased nearly $3 billion in short positions, powered by a Treasury buyback expansion.
Bitcoin Blows Past $70,000 as Nearly $3 Billion in Shorts Are Liquidated
Posted August 20, 2026 at 6:14 am EST.
Bitcoin has climbed as high as $71,000 in a move that kicked off Wednesday, its first move above $70,000 in two months, and the rally has buried traders positioned for a further decline. CoinGlass has recorded $2.89 billion in short liquidations across the crypto market in the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin accounted for $1.57 billion of that figure, ether for $1.14 billion and solana for $108 million. Ether has jumped nearly 20% to reclaim $2,000 for the first time since May, and solana, XRP and other large caps have added more than 5%.
This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.
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The trigger came from Washington. The U.S. Treasury said Wednesday morning it will at least double the size of its liquidity support buyback operations in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year sectors, lifting the maximum from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation, effective September 9 and running through November 4. Easing conditions at the long end of the curve tends to spill into risk assets.
Two other catalysts sat behind the move. The SEC on Tuesday proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, which would let issuers raise up to $5 million over four years or $75 million annually under disclosure requirements, and Trump hosted crypto executives at the White House on Wednesday afternoon. Crypto equities tracked the tape: Fold Holdings gained nearly 20%, BitGo and American Bitcoin about 15% each, and Strategy and Bitmine roughly 10%.
The bounce arrives 10 months into a drawdown. Bitcoin remains far below its October 2025 record above $126,000, a roughly 50% decline that Unchained reported in June is the shallowest bear market in the asset’s history. The Federal Reserve’s July minutes, released Wednesday afternoon, cut against the easy read: many participants judged higher rates would likely be necessary if inflation does not fall, and three regional bank presidents had dissented in July in favor of an immediate quarter-point increase.
Related Listen: A Technical Strategist Sees Opportunity in Bitcoin’s Quiet Market
AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
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