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Bitcoin traded above $70,000 for the first time since June on Thursday, 20 August 2026, after a US Treasury announcement on government bond buying, a new proposal from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and a White House meeting between the US president and crypto industry executives moved through the market in the same session. Ethereum and Solana also gained by a significant margin over the same period.
Bitcoin breaks its range
Bitcoin had spent most of Wednesday trading near $64,700 before the price moved higher through the day, reaching an intra-day level above $69,000, a gain of close to 8% on the day and the largest single day move since March, according to price data reported by The Block. The move broke a six-week trading range and triggered over $1 billion in short position liquidations within about an hour, according to Coinglass data cited by Bloomberg. Total liquidations across the market for the day came to close to $2 billion. Ethereum moved back above $2,000 for the first time since May, up around 10% on the day, and Solana traded near $85, up over 5%. By the morning of 20 August 2026, Bitcoin had settled back into the high $68,000 range, still up close to 6% from the prior day.
These figures were correct at the time of writing and can move quickly. Anyone reading this after publication should check a live price source before drawing conclusions.
What is driving the move
Market commentary points to two separate developments landing in the same week.
Treasury bond buybacks: The US Treasury said it would more than double its buyback operations for longer dated government debt, from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation, starting in September. Lower long end yields and a weaker dollar tend to support demand for assets such as Bitcoin.
SEC's proposed crypto framework: The SEC proposed a new framework, "Regulation Crypto Assets", that would let token issuers raise up to $75 million a year without the full disclosure requirements of a public securities offering. Larger offerings would still face ongoing reporting duties.
Inside the White House meeting
On the same day, the US president hosted a meeting with crypto and prediction market executives at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The SEC chair and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair also attended, alongside executives from several major crypto exchanges and prediction market platforms. The president used the meeting to call on Congress to pass a market structure bill known as the Clarity Act, which would set out which parts of the crypto market fall under the SEC and which fall under the CFTC.
The bill still faces a difficult path. A procedural vote in the Senate is scheduled for 15 September 2026 and needs close to 60 votes to proceed, with analysts estimating the bill is short by around six Democratic votes. Prediction markets and industry researchers have both lowered their odds of the bill passing this year, with one analyst putting the chance at around 10%. The meeting also coincided with a jump of around 10% in one crypto token after the president said the CFTC was working to bring a decentralised exchange platform to the United States.
The GENIUS Act and the stablecoin backdrop
Stablecoins were a quieter but ongoing part of the regulatory picture this week. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for United States Stablecoins Act, generally known as the GENIUS Act, was signed into law in July 2025 and set up a licensing and reserve framework for what it calls payment stablecoins. Only approved issuers will be allowed to issue a payment stablecoin in the United States once the transition period ends, and issuers must publish monthly reserve disclosures that are examined by an outside accounting firm.
Several US agencies, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Treasury, and its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, have been working through the one-year rulemaking window set by the act, with a statutory deadline of 18 July 2026 for most core rules. Some pieces of the framework remain open for public comment into October 2026, so the rules are still being finalised in parts rather than complete. The direction of travel, though, is toward a defined federal path for who can issue a US dollar stablecoin and how its reserves must be held and reported.
What to watch next
Whether Bitcoin can hold above the $70,000, with some analysts pointing to the 200-day moving average near $71,300 to $71,500 as the next level of interest.The Senate's procedural vote on the Clarity Act scheduled for 15 September 2026.Further rulemaking from US regulators as the GENIUS Act framework continues to take shape through the rest of 2026.The CFTC's first public Innovation Advisory Committee meeting, covering crypto, prediction markets and artificial intelligence.
Ref: excerpted from Luno.com