Bitcoin surged above $75,000 for the first time since May, hitting a peak of $75,740 during early trading in Singapore on August 21, 2026 [1, 2]. The rally pushed bitcoin over 11% higher in just two days, recovering from mid-$60,000 levels to breach both the $70,000 and $75,000 marks [3, 4, 2].
The price jump followed two key events earlier this week. On August 19, President Donald Trump hosted a White House meeting with leading cryptocurrency executives. He urged Congress to pass the stalled Clarity Act, describing it as "very, very powerful structured legislation which will keep us ahead of China, keep us ahead of everyone else" and open the door to "the next wave of innovations and innovators" [3, 5, 4, 2].
The next day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced plans to double buybacks of long-dated US Treasury bonds to curb rising yields [1, 6, 7, 8]. This move pushed Treasury yields lower and weakened the US dollar, creating favorable conditions for risk assets like bitcoin. Geoffrey Kendrick of Standard Chartered said, "The announcement from the US Treasury to increase the size of back-end support is exactly the type of thing Bitcoin loves," while BTSE COO Jeff Mei added, "When yields drop and the dollar weakens, risk assets tend to rally, and we’ve already seen Bitcoin move higher on the news" [6, 7].
The rapid bitcoin gains triggered significant liquidations of crypto short positions, with over $2.7 billion liquidated in a 24-hour period around August 20-21 [7, 3, 2]. Other cryptocurrencies also gained notably during the same period. Ether traded between $2,261 and $2,363, while Solana, Binance Coin, XRP, and Dogecoin all saw significant price increases [6, 5, 4, 2]. Tokens classified as hyperliquid rose roughly 20-23% amid the rally [6, 7].
The Senate has so far stalled the Clarity Act due to disagreements over ethics provisions. A critical procedural vote is scheduled for September 15, 2026, determining the bill’s passage [3, 4]. Meanwhile, Trump continued to call for congressional action, emphasizing the bill’s potential to maintain US leadership in cryptocurrency innovation and job creation [3, 5, 4, 2].
Market watchers note that while the Clarity Act push gained attention, the US Treasury’s bond buyback moves played a more direct role in reigniting investor risk appetite. Matthew Sigel of VanEck said, "This price reaction isn’t about the US Clarity Act… This is about what the US Treasury has done, which is reigniting fears of fiscal dominance" [1].
