Coinspeaker
5 hour ago
Bullish

Bitcoin jumps to $78,000 as $3.5B short positions liquidate

3 min

Bitcoin traded near $77,500 on Aug. 21, 2026 after an intraday jump to about $78,000 that broke a months-long range. The gain was the largest single-day move since March. Data cited from The Kobeissi Letter showed $3.5 billion in crypto liquidations over 24 hours: more than $3 billion came from shorts. Market cap added about $280 billion in the same window.

Drivers: expectations around regulation, macro liquidity operations, and leveraged short covering. Rising prices triggered forced buying on short positions, which amplified the rally.

Liquidations and market breadth

Total liquidations over 24 hours: $3.50 billion. Short liquidations exceeded $3 billion. Bitcoin liquidations: about $1.76 billion. Ethereum liquidations: about $1.16 billion. ETH rose close to 20% and traded above $2,200 at the time reported.

Crypto-linked equities advanced. MicroStrategy gained nearly 12%. Coinbase, Circle, and BitMine rose close to 10%.

Source: MSTRUSD / Tradingview

Policy and liquidity context

The U.S. Treasury will at least double the per-operation cap for liquidity-support repo operations in 10- to 30-year Treasurys from $2 billion to $4 billion between Sept. 9 and Nov. 4. Standard Chartered’s Kendrick described this as a type of liquidity intervention that has historically coincided with Bitcoin strength.

Separately, Trump met with regulators and crypto and fintech executives at the White House. Reported attendees: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, and representatives from Coinbase, Ripple, and market infrastructure groups. Trump said the government ended its conflict with cryptocurrencies and discussed potential accumulation of Bitcoin and other crypto assets. No execution plan, funding source, or timeline was disclosed.

Scenarios and watch levels

Signals that would support a more durable trend reversal: a realized profit-and-loss ratio above 2 and a positive Coinbase Premium Index. Short-term holder cost basis near $68,500 remains a key level.

Legislative path: Polymarket showed the probability of the CLARITY Act passing this year rose from 20% to 28% after Trump’s remarks.

Source: Polymarket

Procedural update: Senate Majority Leader Thune filed a cloture motion scheduling a Sept. 15 vote to determine whether to begin formal debate on the bill, which requires 60 votes. This is not a final vote.