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Bitcoin climbs more than 7% to around $69,000 on Thursday after briefly touching an intraday high of $70,000.
Bitcoin Price Today.
Bitcoin Price Today, August 20: Bitcoin surged to the $70,000 mark on Thursday, recording one of its sharpest gains in recent months as a combination of lower US Treasury yields, a weaker dollar, strong institutional demand and large-scale short liquidations pushed the broader cryptocurrency market higher.
Bitcoin climbed more than 7% to around $69,000 on Thursday after briefly touching an intraday high of $70,000. Ethereum was among the biggest major-coin gainers, rising nearly 18% to above $2,250. The total crypto market capitalisation also jumped nearly 8% to around $2.37 trillion.
“Crypto markets have recorded one of their strongest moves in recent months, with Bitcoin gaining more than 7% to around $69,000 and Ether rising roughly 18% above $2,250,” Riya Sehgal, research analyst at Delta Exchange, said.
The rally was supported by improving liquidity conditions in global markets. According to Sehgal, the US Treasury’s expansion of long-duration bond buybacks pushed Treasury yields and the dollar lower, creating a more favourable environment for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.
Nischal Shetty, founder of WazirX, also pointed to lower bond yields and a weaker dollar as supportive factors for crypto. He said US Treasury buybacks had lowered 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields to 4.64% and 5.18%, respectively, while the dollar’s 0.76% decline further supported demand for dollar-denominated digital assets.
The move in Bitcoin was amplified after the cryptocurrency broke above the $65,000 resistance level. The breakout triggered further buying as traders with bearish positions were forced to close their bets.
According to data from Delta Exchange, a total of 1,71,320 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with total liquidations reaching about $2.98 billion. CoinDCX Research put the value of short positions liquidated at more than $2.74 billion.
“Bitcoin’s break above the $65,000 resistance area then accelerated the move through leveraged positioning,” Sehgal said.
CoinDCX Research said nearly $190 billion had been added to the crypto market capitalisation over the past 24 hours. It attributed the broader improvement in sentiment partly to US President Donald Trump’s remarks alongside technology and crypto executives.
Trump called on Congress to pass the Crypto CLARITY Act, while also saying that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission was working on bringing Hyperliquid to the US market. Separately, rules under the GENIUS Act are expected to be finalised before November.
The rally came despite a relatively hawkish tone in the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s July meeting. The minutes showed that several officials favoured a rate hike, while a number of policymakers believed further tightening could still be necessary because of inflation concerns.
However, crypto markets largely looked past the hawkish signals. Recent economic data has reduced expectations of an immediate return to aggressive monetary tightening, while falling Treasury yields and dollar weakness have provided support to risk assets.
Bitcoin’s options market also reflected the sudden rise in volatility. Sehgal said Bitcoin implied volatility briefly moved above 40 from around 35 before easing towards 37.5, highlighting the scale of the market’s repricing.
Ethereum also saw strong buying interest. CoinDCX Research said Ether surged to $2,233, gaining 16.75% during the session, while Sehgal placed the rise at roughly 18%, with Ether trading above $2,250.
Other major cryptocurrencies also moved higher. BNB climbed to $622, XRP to $1.08, Solana to $84.21, Tron to $0.33, Hyperliquid to $69.16 and Dogecoin to $0.075. Official Trump was the day’s biggest gainer, rising more than 25.70%, followed by Hyperliquid and Arbitrum, which gained 19.53% and 15.90%, respectively.
Institutional demand has also strengthened. US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted about $486.9 million across two reported sessions, including $189.3 million in the latest session. Ethereum ETFs recorded inflows of about $71.5 million.
Still, analysts cautioned that ETF inflows alone do not explain the size of the rally. Lower Treasury yields, dollar weakness and forced short covering have also played a major role.
For Bitcoin, the immediate question is whether the cryptocurrency can hold its gains after the liquidation-driven buying subsides. Shetty said support is currently around $69,000-$69,300, while $69,700-$70,000 is the first major resistance zone.
“Bitcoin trades near $69,673.80 with a constructive daily structure,” Shetty said. “Holding support could preserve buyer control, whereas a sustained move above $70,000 may strengthen momentum.”
Sehgal similarly said Bitcoin holding the $68,000-$69,000 range would keep its near-term structure constructive, with $70,000 emerging as the immediate hurdle.
If Bitcoin fails to hold $69,000, Shetty expects traders to watch the $68,500-$68,800 area for the next level of support.
Ethereum is also facing a key resistance zone around $2,270-$2,300. Shetty said holding the $2,240-$2,250 support area could keep the current momentum intact, while traders may watch trading volume, open interest and funding rates before considering a move above $2,300 as confirmed.
About the Author
Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalis…Read More
August 20, 2026, 12:08 IST
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