Bitcoin nears $72K; altcoins rally, $3B shorts liquidated

Bitcoin approached $72,000 on Aug. 19 after a U.S. Treasury announcement and supportive comments by President Donald Trump at a White House meeting with technology leaders, financial regulators and crypto executives. Exchange data showed a session high of $71,992 and a market capitalization near $1.44 trillion. Ethereum led altcoins with a roughly 19% gain to just under $2,320; XRP, Solana, Dogecoin and Zcash also posted double-digit percentage increases.

Trump told attendees the United States is “leading by a lot” in cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence and urged the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act to create clearer legal rules for digital asset businesses. He referenced specific protocols and said the administration was working to bring the decentralized trading platform Hyperliquid onshore. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov addressed the meeting.

Derivatives markets saw heavy liquidations as rising spot prices forced margin calls. Data showed nearly $1.7 billion of bitcoin short positions were closed and total liquidations across crypto markets reached about $3.35 billion, with short positions accounting for roughly $3.07 billion. Liquidation occurs when exchanges automatically close leveraged positions because losses exceed collateral.

Specific protocol mentions at the meeting had immediate market effects. Hyperliquid’s native token rose toward $74, putting it close to its mid-June high of about $76.87. Chainlink’s LINK climbed to $10.86 after reports of a Wyoming switch to Chainlink’s CCIP and Nazarov’s appearance. Market participants recorded higher trading volumes across major exchanges during the rally.

The CLARITY Act remains stalled in the Senate, and some industry attendees used the White House forum to press for clearer regulation of digital asset firms.