Bitcoin surged above $71,000 for the first time since June, breaking out of a six-week trading range as a wave of forced buying sent the cryptocurrency sharply higher.
Bitcoin climbed as high as about $72,400 on Thursday, extending a rally that began the previous day. The move represented a gain of roughly 11% in 24 hours, according to CoinDesk’s market report.
The rally was amplified by a massive derivatives-market squeeze. About $3 billion of short positions were liquidated over 24 hours, compared with roughly $264 million in long liquidations, according to CoinDesk. More than $1 billion of bearish positions were wiped out in a single hour as traders were forced to buy Bitcoin to close losing bets
Bitcoin had spent the previous six weeks trading between roughly $62,000 and $66,900, with volatility falling to multi-year lows. That prolonged period of narrow trading left a large concentration of leveraged short positions above the upper end of the range, helping accelerate the move once Bitcoin broke through resistance.
The rally was also supported by a shift in the broader financial backdrop. The US Treasury said it would increase purchases of longer-dated government bonds, helping push long-term Treasury yields lower and improving investor appetite for riskier assets. Reuters reported that Bitcoin was up 3.48% at $71,505 in Thursday trading, while Ether gained 2.46% to $2,272.
The Treasury move was accompanied by renewed political support for cryptocurrencies. President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, legislation designed to establish clearer rules for the US digital-asset industry. The bill remains stalled in Congress but is expected to return to the legislative agenda in September.
Bitcoin’s move also triggered a broader rally across digital assets. Ether rose above $2,200, while crypto-related equities including Coinbase and Strategy gained alongside the market. Reuters reported Coinbase shares rose more than 6%, while Strategy gained about 4%.
The size of the move, however, means traders are likely to scrutinize whether the rally can extend beyond the short squeeze. Bitcoin remains well below its previous record of about $126,000, reached in October 2025, and is still down roughly 43% from that peak, according to Reuters.
For now, the breakout has changed the market’s technical picture. Bitcoin has moved decisively above the upper boundary of the range that had contained it since early July, while the liquidation of billions of dollars in bearish bets has removed a substantial amount of leveraged positioning.
The next test will be whether fresh spot demand can sustain prices above $70,000 once the forced buying fades. If it can, the move could mark the beginning of a broader recovery. If not, Thursday’s surge could prove to have been primarily a short-covering event rather than the start of a durable new Bitcoin uptrend.