Bloomberg: Bitcoin briefly breaks through $70,000, triggering an epic short squeeze, as the crypto market sees its biggest rebound since March

On August 20, the Bitcoin market suddenly rebounded, with prices rising nearly 8% at one point, briefly breaking through $70,000, reaching a new high since early June, and triggering the largest short liquidation wave since 2021. Over $1 billion in Bitcoin short positions were liquidated within about an hour, as months of bearish trades concentrated on closing positions, driving a rapid rebound in BTC. Analysts pointed out that this increase reflects an overly crowded short position in the market, and as prices turned upward, forced buying to cover further amplified the rally.

This rebound was driven by multiple factors. U.S. President Trump met with executives from crypto companies such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Blockchain.com at the White House, and the market expects the U.S. government to continue promoting a more friendly regulatory framework for digital assets. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new rules for crypto asset issuance this week, intending to exempt certain digital asset issuance from registration requirements. On the macro front, the U.S. Treasury announced an expansion of long-term Treasury bond repurchase operations, at least doubling the scale of repurchase operations for 10 to 30-year Treasury bonds to enhance market liquidity and alleviate pressure on long-term U.S. Treasury yields, further boosting sentiment for risk assets.

The rebound spread throughout the entire crypto market, with Ethereum rising 19% at one point, marking the largest single-day increase since March. Crypto-related stocks also surged, with Coinbase rising about 10%, Bitcoin reserve company Strategy increasing about 13%, and stablecoin issuer Circle rising nearly 10%. Analysts stated that Bitcoin's next key step lies in whether it can convert this short squeeze into real buying pressure and break through the resistance area above $70,000.