Bitcoin Hits $72,850 as Traders Lose $650M in Shorts
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin surged 14% over four days to a session high of $72,850, lifting its market cap to $1.45 trillion.
- Pro-crypto White House meetings and Treasury policy shifts sparked $1.59 billion in short bets liquidated.
- Market strategists expect Scott Bessent’s expanded Treasury bond buybacks to spur further crypto momentum.
Intraday Price Action and Breakout
Bitcoin’s unrelenting surge showed no signs of abating Thursday afternoon as the top cryptocurrency capitalized on pro-crypto sentiment from a White House meeting. Market data shows that after facing resistance at $72,000 earlier in the day, bitcoin easily breached the mark around 6:20 a.m. EST, climbing to $72,330.
Although bitcoin briefly slipped back below $72,000 for five hours, persistent buying pressure kept it near the threshold. Around 11 a.m., a second wave of buying propelled the cryptocurrency to a session high of $72,850. The surge lifted bitcoin’s 24-hour gain to 5.6% and boosted its market capitalization from $1.44 trillion to $1.45 trillion.
Since Monday, Aug. 17, when it traded around $63,500, bitcoin has added approximately $9,000 to its value—a 14% gain in just four days. The increase narrowed its year-to-date losses to 17.4%, slightly improving its odds of closing 2026 with net gains.
Meanwhile, for the second consecutive day, bitcoin’s ascent decimated leveraged short positions, although the total liquidated was markedly lower than in the preceding 24 hours. According to Coinglass data, bitcoin’s price action wiped out $650 million in short bets, compared with $41 million in long bets. Overall, about $1.59 billion in short bets was liquidated across the cryptocurrency market versus $219 million in long bets.
The dual catalysts—a pivotal U.S. Treasury policy announcement alongside a White House summit where Trump administration officials doubled down on pro-crypto policies—ignited a market-wide rally across bitcoin and altcoins alike. The dramatic surge shatters weeks of aimless consolidation, silencing analysts who had repeatedly identified a total absence of macroeconomic catalysts as the sole barrier capping bitcoin at $65,000.
Market strategists point to expanding liquidity expectations as a primary engine behind bitcoin’s sustained momentum. Rhetoric from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hinting at debt-management interventions larger than the $4 billion buyback program unveiled Aug. 19 has fueled bullish sentiment.
That buyback initiative initially dragged the 10-year Treasury yield down to 4.63%, but when the yield rebounded above 4.71% within 24 hours, market watchers interpreted Bessent’s subsequent comments as a signal that the Treasury may deploy even heavier bond purchases. This macro environment is seen accelerating capital flows into fixed-supply assets like bitcoin.
