Bitcoin Surpasses $70,000 Amid Green Light for Deregulation Bill

Bitcoin, the top cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has broken past the $70,000 threshold, driven by the U.S. Treasury's buyback of government bonds and pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to pass deregulation legislation.

The price surge triggered a "short squeeze," a chain reaction in which short-position bets against Bitcoin were liquidated, further accelerating the upward trend.

According to U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase on the 20th (local time), the price of a single Bitcoin stood at $72,812 as of 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, up about 6.2% from 24 hours earlier.

Compared to a week ago, the figure is up more than 15%, decisively piercing the upper resistance line of the $62,000 to $66,000 trading range that had held for the past six weeks.

However, compared to its all-time high of $126,210.5 recorded in October of last year, it is down about 42%.

The latest surge in Bitcoin prices is interpreted as the result of macroeconomic conditions and policy catalysts working in tandem.

The previous day, the U.S. Treasury Department abruptly announced that it would expand the scale of its government bond buybacks by at least twofold to stabilize financial markets.

As long-term bond yields fell and the value of the dollar declined, investment capital poured into risk assets such as Bitcoin.

Additionally, pressure from President Trump during a meeting at the White House the previous day with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and others—urging Congress to pass the Clarity Act, a cryptocurrency deregulation bill—also played a role.

With Senate Republican Leader John Thune confirming the voting schedule for the bill on September 15, the green light has indeed turned on regarding its actual passage.

In an interview with Fox Business, CEO Armstrong predicted, "Since this bill is the result of bipartisan agreement, I believe it will pass with more than 60 votes," adding, "Personally, I think we are finally standing at the beginning of a new cryptocurrency bull market."

Reuters, Bloomberg, and business news network CNBC reported that what transformed Bitcoin's upward momentum into a steep surge was, in particular, record-setting short liquidations.

Crypto data analytics firm Coinglass explained that as Bitcoin prices skyrocketed, $1 billion worth of short positions were forcibly liquidated and wiped out in just a single hour.

Over the 24-hour period, bearish bets that faced forced liquidation exceeded $3 billion (approximately 4.2 trillion won).

Thomas Lee, co-founder of market analysis firm Fundstrat, diagnosed that "the second-largest short position liquidation event in history has been triggered."

This means a chain reaction of surges occurred through a short-squeeze phenomenon, where short sellers reluctantly bought back Bitcoin at higher prices to cut their losses amid the price spike.

Adam McCarthy, head of research at trading firm Lotek, analyzed, "Rather than new capital flowing into the futures market, bearish positions heavily skewed in one direction were forcibly liquidated," adding, "Because the futures market has exhausted its short-selling base, entering the next rally will require genuine spot buying rather than a short squeeze."

Experts projected that Bitcoin's upward trend is likely to continue for some time.

Geoff Kendrick, head of crypto research at Standard Chartered, warned, "Investors should now prepare for Bitcoin to head toward the $100,000 mark by the end of this year," while CEO Armstrong also predicted, "I think we will see Bitcoin reach $300,000 to $400,000 by 2030."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.