Bitcoin decisively broke out of a six-week trading range to top $71,000, driven by a massive short squeeze that forcibly liquidated $3 billion in bearish bets into a thin market supply. The rapid upward move snapped weeks of low volatility that had trapped the cryptocurrency between $62,000 and $66,900 since early July. As the price cleared key resistance levels, panic buying among short sellers propelled Bitcoin up more than 8% within a single hour, eventually approaching $72,000 during European trading hours.
The initial spark was largely structural, triggered by a broader bid in risk assets following the U.S. Treasury’s announcement that it would double its long-dated buyback operations to $4 billion. This move successfully pulled the 30-year yield back from multi-year highs and pushed Bitcoin through the dense band of short positions clustered near $67,000. Momentum built further after President Donald Trump voiced support for the Clarity Act, hinted at potential government Bitcoin purchases, and noted regulatory progress for decentralized platforms during a White House event.
The broad-based rally extended across the digital asset market, with Ether surging 19% to $2,270, alongside double-digit gains for major tokens such as Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin. Total daily Bitcoin trading volume soared by 250% to reach $59 billion, while market sentiment abruptly shifted into “greed” territory. Crypto-adjacent equities also rode the wave, with corporate holder Strategy jumping 10% in pre-market trading, alongside solid gains for major industry players including Coinbase, Bullish, and MARA Holdings.
From a technical perspective, the breakout allowed Bitcoin to reclaim critical on-chain benchmarks that signal a transition back into a bullish market environment. By moving past $67,138, Bitcoin reclaimed the short-term holder cost basis, placing recent buyers back into aggregate profit. Additionally, the asset pushed above its 200-day simple moving average near $68,969, with market analysts now eyeing the True Market Mean at $75,689 as the next key threshold for long-term active investors.
