Crypto market enters the “greed zone” as Bitcoin surpasses $70,000
On August 20, the prices of many cryptocurrencies reached their highest levels in several months. The market's rise coincided with a speech by US President Donald Trump at a meeting with representatives of the largest cryptocurrency companies at the White House.
On the morning of August 20, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at about $69,500, while Ethereum (ETH) was above $2,250. Over the previous 24 hours, the leading cryptocurrency gained 8%, while the second-largest cryptocurrency rose by more than 18%.
At certain points, Bitcoin's price exceeded $70,000 on many major cryptocurrency exchanges, while Ethereum's price surpassed $3,330. For BTC, these were the highest levels since the beginning of summer; for ETH, since mid-May.
Despite the sharp increase, Bitcoin remained approximately 45% below its all-time high of more than $126,000, set in October 2025. Therefore, the August 20 move marked a notable recovery after a prolonged decline, but it did not return the leading cryptocurrency to record levels.
Crypto market liquidations reached $3 Billion
Sharp price fluctuations led to large-scale liquidations of traders' positions. According to Coinglass, cryptocurrency exchanges forcibly closed the positions of tens of thousands of market participants over the course of 24 hours, for a total of approximately $3 billion.
About $2.75 billion of this came from short positions — trades opened by traders who expected cryptocurrency prices to decline.
As a result, short positions accounted for more than 91% of all liquidations over the 24 hours. Such an imbalance shows that most traders using borrowed funds were unprepared for the market's sudden upward reversal.
Most of the losses were associated with Bitcoin and Ethereum: the combined volume of liquidations in the markets of the two largest cryptocurrencies approached $2.6 billion.
BTC and ETH liquidations accounted for approximately 87% of the total volume of forcibly closed positions. This confirms that the epicenter of the movement was in the markets of the two largest cryptocurrencies rather than among less liquid tokens.
In the cryptocurrency market, liquidations generally refer to the forced closure of perpetual futures positions. Such instruments allow traders to use high leverage*, opening trades for amounts significantly exceeding their own capital.
* Leverage is a trading mechanism that uses funds borrowed from an exchange. A trader deposits their own money as collateral (margin), and the exchange lets them open a larger position. For example, with 10× leverage and $1,000 of personal capital, a trader can execute a $10,000 trade. Borrowed funds increase potential profits, but they also increase potential losses by the same multiple.
Cryptocurrency prices and the state of the market
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization exceeded $2.37 trillion.
The Fear and Greed Index* reached 62 points out of 100 and entered the "greed" zone. This means that investors became more inclined to buy cryptocurrencies. The indicator also reached a new yearly high.
* The Fear and Greed Index is an indicator of the overall sentiment among cryptocurrency market participants, calculated on a scale from 0 to 100. Its calculation may consider price dynamics and volatility, trading volumes, user interest in cryptocurrencies, and other market indicators. Low values correspond to prevailing fear and caution, while high values indicate growing optimism and investors' readiness to buy riskier assets. The index does not predict the market's future movement; it only reflects the prevailing sentiment at the time of calculation.
Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, the best results over the past 24 hours were posted by the tokens of perpetual futures decentralized exchanges, Lighter (LIT) and Hyperliquid (HYPE). Each gained more than 20%.
Both platforms specialize in perpetual futures. A sharp increase in volatility usually boosts interest in such instruments and raises trading volumes on the platforms. Therefore, the exchanges' tokens may have received additional support not only from the general rally but also from expectations of increased user activity.
The token that declined the most over the same period was Stabel (STABEL), which fell 5%.
At the end of the August 19 trading session, net capital inflows into Bitcoin ETFs* amounted to nearly $517 million. For US spot Bitcoin ETFs, this was the largest daily inflow since the beginning of May.
* ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is an investment fund whose shares are freely bought and sold on a stock exchange, with their value depending on the price of an underlying asset, index, or selected portfolio. The underlying assets may include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, cryptocurrencies, or several types of assets at once. An ETF lets investors gain exposure to an individual asset, sector, or entire market in a single transaction, without buying and holding each asset independently.
Ethereum-based ETFs attracted approximately $189 million. For both categories of funds, these were the highest daily figures since the spring of 2026.
What triggered the crypto market's rise
On August 19, the US authorities made no new decisions concerning cryptocurrency regulation, and there were no other global changes in the industry. The only major event that coincided with the market's rise was a meeting between representatives of the cryptocurrency industry and US authorities at the White House.
The meeting drew the heads of key US regulators: Michael Selig of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Paul Atkins of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Representatives of major traditional and cryptocurrency companies also participated in the event:
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong;
- Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse;
- Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman;
- Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev;
- Kraken CEO Arjun Sethi;
- Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov;
- the billionaire Winklevoss brothers, Cameron and Tyler, founders of the Gemini exchange;
- Chris Dixon, head of a16z crypto, the largest cryptocurrency venture capital fund.
The lineup of participants reflects the convergence of the cryptocurrency and TradFi* markets. Alongside cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain projects, the meeting included representatives of Nasdaq and Robinhood, which make digital assets more accessible to participants in regulated markets.
* TradFi (Traditional Finance) is the traditional financial system, which includes banks, stock exchanges, brokers, investment funds, insurance companies, and other regulated financial institutions. Unlike decentralized finance*, TradFi operates through licensed intermediaries, centralized infrastructure, and government-established rules.
One of Trump's main statements at the meeting concerned plans to "bring Hyperliquid to the US market." However, the president did not specify how the US version of the cryptocurrency exchange would operate or what regulatory approvals it would need to launch.
Entry into the US market is especially important for Hyperliquid because of the legal status of perpetual cryptocurrency futures. The CFTC supervises derivatives trading in the United States, so launching the platform may require registration, compliance with customer-protection requirements, and restrictions on offering high-risk products to retail investors.
Trump also called on Congress to "take the next step" and approve the cryptocurrency market structure bill, consideration of which had previously been postponed until the fall. Work on the document slowed because of several controversial issues. In particular, the banking lobby opposes the further development of stablecoins, as they may compete with traditional bank deposits.
The market structure bill is expected to define the powers of the SEC and CFTC over different categories of digital assets. This is a fundamental issue for the industry: a token's classification determines which rules will apply to its issuance, trading, and availability to US investors.
Another topic discussed at the meeting was the possible accumulation of Bitcoin by the US government. Responding to a related question, Trump stated:
"Of course, we talked about it. It would take tremendous pressure off the dollar. It was very, very good for the dollar. And if you come in with recommendations, I will certainly listen."
In March 2025, Trump had already signed an executive order establishing a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The document provides for confiscated Bitcoin to be transferred to the reserve and prohibits its sale. At the same time, the president ordered an audit of the crypto assets held in US government wallets. The audit was supposed to be completed in the spring of 2025, but its results have still not been published or officially announced.
How Trump's ûtatements affected the market
The White House meeting became the main reason for the sharp rise in the cryptocurrency market. Ethereum (ETH) and the token of the Hyperliquid cryptocurrency exchange (HYPE) posted particularly notable gains, leading the rally among major crypto assets.
However, the reasons behind their growth differed. Ethereum was one of the first assets to begin rising without an obvious news catalyst, while HYPE's rally followed Trump's statement about plans to bring Hyperliquid to the US market.
Another factor supporting the crypto market's rise was the increase in US government debt, which exceeded $40 trillion for the first time in history after growing by approximately $3 trillion over the year. Of this amount, around $32.3 trillion represented obligations to private investors, companies, the Federal Reserve, and foreign holders, while approximately $7.8 trillion consisted of intragovernmental obligations.
At the same time, debt-servicing costs exceeded spending on Medicare and the US defense budget, intensifying concerns about the long-term sustainability of public finances.
In the cryptocurrency community, rising government debt is traditionally viewed as a long-term bullish factor* for Bitcoin.
* A bullish factor is an event or condition that may increase demand for an asset and cause its price to rise. The term is associated with the image of a bull, which attacks by thrusting its horns upward: this movement symbolizes rising prices. By comparison, a bear strikes downward with its paw, which is why a declining market or trend is described as "bearish."
The logic behind this view is that rising government debt and budget deficits increase concerns about inflation, growth in the money supply, and the long-term decline in the purchasing power of traditional currencies. Against this backdrop, Bitcoin, with its limited supply of 21 million coins, may be perceived as a scarce alternative asset.
This view is also shared by BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, which cited the growing US debt burden in a recent report as one of the arguments in favor of including Bitcoin in investment portfolios.
BlackRock also noted that Bitcoin's recent decline was mainly related to the reduction of leveraged positions and changes in capital flows rather than the collapse of its long-term investment thesis. The company continues to regard BTC as an emerging global monetary alternative and a potential portfolio diversification instrument.
Conclusions
The movement on August 20 more closely resembled a combination of political momentum, ETF capital inflows, and a large-scale short squeeze* than a conventional rally driven by fundamental news.
* A short squeeze is a sharp increase in an asset's price during which traders who opened short positions in anticipation of a decline face growing losses. To limit those losses or restore sufficient collateral, they are forced to buy back the asset and close their positions. When leverage is used, an exchange may also do this forcibly. The additional purchases increase demand, push the price even higher, and trigger the closure of further short positions.
The market effectively began pricing in not decisions already adopted, but the possibility of more favorable regulation of the cryptocurrency industry in the United States. However, a significant regulatory gap remains between a political statement and concrete action.
Another important signal was Ethereum's stronger performance. It may indicate a gradual return of interest in the riskier segment of the market: capital usually concentrates in Bitcoin first and then moves into ETH and other major crypto assets. However, a single trading day is not enough to declare the beginning of a full-fledged altseason*.
* Altseason is a period in the cryptocurrency market when a significant share of alternative cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, rise faster than Bitcoin. It is usually accompanied by a redistribution of capital from BTC into Ethereum and other crypto assets, higher trading volumes, and a decline in Bitcoin's share of total market capitalization. Growth in several individual tokens does not, by itself, mean altseason has begun: the movement must encompass a sufficiently broad range of assets and continue for a meaningful period.
The sustainability of the rally will now depend less on new statements and more on the market's ability to hold the levels it has reached after the liquidations end. If ETF inflows continue and the growth spreads across a broader range of assets, the movement may gain fundamental support. Otherwise, much of the rise risks proving a short-term repricing of expectations.