Bitcoin surged past the $72,000 mark during Asian trading hours on Thursday, hitting a 10-week high as a combination of US regulatory support, improved market liquidity and a sharp short squeeze triggered broad-based buying across cryptocurrencies.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency jumped over 11% to hit a high of $72,418.5 in the past 24 hours. At the time of reporting, the BTC was up 10.2% at $71,659.4, with a market capitalisation of around $1.44 trillion.
The rally pushed Bitcoin above the $70,000 level for the first time since June and triggered more than $1 billion in short liquidations in a short span, according to market participants.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, outperformed Bitcoin, surging 17.72% to $2,275.10. XRP jumped over 19% to $1.208, while Solana gained 10.63% to $86.73 and BNB rose 6.04% to $640.90.
The broader crypto market also rallied sharply. Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation rose to $2.36 trillion, with 24-hour trading volume at $117.70 billion. Bitcoin accounted for 58.8% of the total market, while Ethereum’s dominance stood at 11.5%.
Among other major tokens, Hyperliquid surged 22.50%, Stellar gained 14.66%, Cardano rose 11.06%, Dogecoin advanced 9.80% and Chainlink climbed 9.46%. Zcash gained 10.03%, while Monero rose 0.84%.
Trump backs Clarity Act
The rally came after US President Donald Trump hosted cryptocurrency and prediction-market executives at the White House on Wednesday and urged lawmakers to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act.
Trump described the legislation as “very, very powerful structured legislation” that could help the US maintain its lead over China in digital assets.
The Clarity Act, which has cleared the US House of Representatives but remains stalled in the Senate, seeks to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets and clarify the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Market participants said Trump’s backing has strengthened expectations of greater regulatory clarity for the crypto industry, adding to an already improving risk appetite.
Rajagopal Menon, Vice President at WazirX, said the SEC’s proposed crypto framework could help replace regulatory uncertainty with clearer pathways for innovation.
“The SEC’s Regulation Crypto Assets proposal is an important step towards replacing regulatory uncertainty with clear, workable pathways for innovation right from the start,” Menon said.
Liquidity, short squeeze fuel rally
The crypto rally has also been supported by improving liquidity conditions and aggressive short covering.
Prateek Gupta, Head of Business at Mudrex, said Bitcoin had risen from around $64,000 to $70,000 following the US Treasury’s decision to increase long-dated debt buybacks.
“The move pushed the 30-year Treasury yield down to around 5.2%, easing liquidity concerns and making risk assets attractive,” Gupta said.
He added that Trump’s push for the Clarity Act further improved sentiment.
The sharp move higher triggered around $1.1 billion in Bitcoin short liquidations, according to Gupta, surpassing the previous record of $757 million from May 2021.
Bitcoin ETFs also attracted $486 million over two days, indicating renewed institutional interest, he said.
“Bitcoin needs a close above $70,000 to sustain the current breakout. Any pullback from the current levels could retest the $65,000 zone,” Gupta said.
Balaji Srihari, VP-Business, India, at CoinSwitch, said the rally reflected a combination of improving liquidity and expectations of more supportive US crypto regulation.
“BTC has now broken out of its recent range. Holding $68K–$69K is key, with a clean break above $70K potentially opening a move toward $75K,” Srihari said.
What it means for India
For India, the US regulatory developments are likely to have a strategic rather than immediate impact. Vikaas M Sachdeva, CEO of BitDelta India, cautioned that the SEC proposal should not be mistaken for a final regulatory framework.
“The SEC proposal is significant, but it is important not to confuse a proposal with a settled regulatory position,” Sachdeva said.
He noted that India has already established a formal compliance framework for virtual digital asset service providers through FIU-IND registration, covering areas such as KYC, transaction monitoring, record keeping and suspicious transaction reporting.
“The interesting question for India is what comes next,” he said, pointing to token issuance, custody, stablecoins, tokenised assets, investor protection and market conduct as potential areas requiring greater clarity.
Sachdeva said the US framework could serve as an important global reference point, but India should develop a risk-based, technology-neutral regulatory framework suited to its own market.
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