Trump Clarity Act Push Sends Bitcoin Past $70,000 in Historic Short Squeeze

Bitcoin surged above $70,000 for the first time since early June on Thursday after President Donald Trump met with top crypto executives at the White House and called on Congress to pass a fair version of the Clarity Act, an industry-backed bill stalled in the Senate. Ether jumped more than 9% to roughly $2,288, while the total crypto market cap climbed sharply alongside the broader rally.

The Clarity Act, if enacted, would define whether cryptocurrency qualifies as a security or a commodity, settling a long-running jurisdictional dispute between the SEC and the CFTC. Crypto-related stocks also spiked in premarket trading, with mining machine maker Canaan up 20%, stablecoin issuer Circle gaining 8%, and retail platform Robinhood Markets advancing 5%.

SEC Regulation and a Historic Short Squeeze Fuel the Move

The political tailwind arrived on the heels of a separate regulatory development that had already begun lifting prices. The SEC formally proposed Regulation Crypto Assets earlier this week, introducing a customized framework that offers targeted capital-raising exemptions and an investment contract safe harbor for digital asset startups. The proposed rules also allow certain crypto assets to exit securities classification after a project fulfills core managerial commitments, a change that would directly benefit mature networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The combined catalysts triggered one of the largest short squeezes in crypto market history. The U.S. Treasury's decision to at least double long-term bond buybacks, from $2B to $4B per operation, sent the 30-year Treasury yield from 5.337% to 5.18%, improving the appeal of scarce assets. More than $1.9B in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, including $1.74B in short positions. Thomas Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat, called it the second-largest short liquidation ever recorded.

Adding structural weight to the rally, Bloomberg had reported just days earlier that Bitcoin whales ended a prolonged selling spree and accumulated $2.9B in BTC holdings over a 60-day period. Fortune noted Bitcoin trading at $71,970 early Thursday morning, up roughly $7,600 from Wednesday. Despite the surge, Bitcoin remains down about 18% for 2026 and still trades below its all-time high of $126,198 set last October.