Bitcoin surges to $72K today, reaching its highest level since June. BTC climbed as high as $72,830 on Binance.
The asset currently trades around $72,500. Two significant US developments drove the rise.
Why Bitcoin surges to $72K
The first catalyst came from the US Treasury Department. It announced a plan to double bond repurchase operations.
The maximum buyback for 10-20 year bonds will increase. It will rise from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per transaction. The same applies to 20-30 year bonds.
The US 30-year Treasury yield had climbed to 5.337%. This was its highest level since 2007. The yield fell sharply after the announcement.
Lower bond yields increased Bitcoin’s relative attractiveness. BTC was one of the first assets to react strongly.
White House meeting boosts Bitcoin again
The second wave of buying came from Washington news. President Trump met with crypto industry representatives.
Executives from Coinbase, Payward, and Blockchain.com attended. Trump mentioned the possibility of a US Bitcoin purchase. He also urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act.
The CLARITY Act must pass before the September 15 deadline. These statements triggered a new wave of buying. BTC rapidly rose from around $69,000 to over $71,000.
The asset continued its upward trend to $72,830.
$1.54B in short positions liquidated
The sudden surge triggered large-scale liquidations. A total of $1.76 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated. Short positions accounted for $1.54 billion of this amount. Long liquidations were only $219.52 million.
In the last 12 hours, $512.81 million in shorts were liquidated. Total liquidation reached $612.17 million. In the last four hours, $96.75 million in shorts were eliminated.
The most recent hour saw $55.24 million in total liquidations. Shorts accounted for $50.72 million of that amount.
Derivatives market growth perspective
The dollar value of open positions increased significantly. Nevertheless, this growth is partly misleading. About 90% of the increase is not new leverage.
Existing positions simply appreciated in dollar terms. Rising Bitcoin and Ethereum prices caused this effect. Derivatives growth may not represent new speculative capital.
