31 min ago3 min readBitcoin price (CoinDesk data)SummaryBitcoin rose toward $72,000 after breaking out of the $62,000-$66,900 range that had held it since July 8. Volatility had ground down to multiyear lows during that stretch, leaving a dense band of short liquidation levels between $65,000 and $67,000.Short liquidations totaled $3 billion over 24 hours, compared with $263.5 million on the long side, with more than $1 billion clearing in a single hour.The U.S. Treasury said it would at least double buybacks of long-dated bonds, pulling the 30-year yield back from 5.337%. Hours later, Trump urged Congress to pass the Clarity Act, floated the idea of sizable U.S. bitcoin purchases and revealed regulators are exploring a compliant route for Hyperliquid.Bitcoin BTC$71,860.98 extended Wednesday’s advance, climbing above $71,000 for the first time since June. The largest cryptocurrency has added 3.5% since midnight UTC and 11% over 24 hours, having broken decisively out of the range that had held it since July 8.The price move was mechanical rather than narrative-driven. BTC spent six weeks between roughly $62,000 and $66,900 with volatility grinding down to multi-year lows, a setup that encouraged traders to fade every approach to the range high. That left a thick band of short liquidation levels between $65,000 and $67,000. The U.S. Treasury's announcement that it would at least double long-dated buyback operations to $4 billion pulled the 30-year yield back from 5.337%, its highest since 2007, and the resulting bid in risk assets was enough to clear the ceiling. Once that fell, $3 billion of shorts were force-bought back into thin resting supply and the spiral carried bitcoin up more than 8% inside an hour.President Donald Trump's comments landed hours later into a market that had already made the bulk of its move. His call for Congress to pass the Clarity Act, a suggestion that the U.S. may buy sizable amounts of bitcoin and the reveal that regulators are working on a compliant pathway for Hyperliquid gave the rally a second leg, lifting the bitcoin price above $70,000.Ether ETH$2,285.89, at $2,270, is just below Wednesday’s three-month high, after rocketing 19% in 24 hours. SOL, XRP and DOGE all posted double-digit advances. Coinbase’s Fear and Greed index jumped to 59, a “greed” reading, from 41, “fear,” while bitcoin daily trading volume is up 250% at $59 billion.Derivatives positioningShort liquidations hit $3 billion over 24 hours against $263.5 million on the long side, the largest short liquidation event since at least 2021. BTC accounted for $1.67 billion of the total and ETH $1.14 billion, with more than $1 billion clearing in a single hour.The aggregated long-short accounts ratio for BTC fell to 0.835 from around 1.05 on Tuesday, meaning more accounts were positioned short into the break than long. That skew is one of the factors that turned a technical breakout into a $3 billion unwind.Open interest (OI) rose 9.11% to $131.25 billion, with BTC up 7.18% to $23.4 billion and ETH up 12.36% to $13.2 billion, according to Coinalyze. Notional exposure is being rebuilt quickly after the flush rather than sitting on the sidelines.HYPE saw the sharpest OI increase at 29%. The increase occurred after Trump's Hyperliquid comments rather than during the initial break.Funding rates remain restrained given the scale of the move, with BTC at 0.0101% and ETH at 0.0103%. The absence of elevated funding suggests the leverage build-up that typically follows a squeeze this size has not yet arrived.The BTC futures basis compressed, with the August 28 OKX contract at 7.68% annualized and the September 25 Deribit contract at 4.71%. Spot buying is leading futures, a cleaner signal than a leverage-driven extension.Token talk LIT is the standout token, advancing 12.4% since midnight to $2.92 and 26.5% over 24 hours, extending a run that has taken it 22.8% higher on the week.PUMP added 9.39% to $0.003285, building on Monday's spike, with 24-hour volume climbing to $112 million.ETHFI gained 5.68% at $0.5566, now 46.3% higher over seven days as ether-adjacent names track ETH to a three-month high.HYPE has risen 2.40% since midnight to $71.12 and advanced 21.9% over 24 hours after Trump said regulators are working on a U.S. pathway for the exchange.WLFI was one of the weakest performers, down 4.66% at $0.0586, one of the few tokens not participating in the rally.CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season indicator has fallen to 36/100 from 44/100 on Wednesday and bitcoin dominance climbed to 59.2%, with capital concentrating in the largest cryptocurrencies.Related Assets12345678910Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum ReadinessBuilding the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum ReadinessZcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.Jun 30, 2026Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.Why it matters:Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold.View Full Report