Bitcoin rose past $77,000 early Saturday, its highest level since May, after President Trump pressed Congress to pass a crypto bill during a meeting with industry leaders this week. The price has gained more than $10,000 in the past two days.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also climbed sharply, reaching $2,363, up more than 25% from a week earlier. Other tokens gained too. Solana’s SOL rose 7%, Binance’s BNB gained 6.4%, XRP jumped 19.3%, and Dogecoin climbed 11.3%, all within 24 hours.
The rapid rise caught many traders off guard. Investors who had bet against crypto, known as short sellers, lost heavily. Data from Coinglass showed more than $1.25 billion in short positions were liquidated in a single day, including about $750 million tied to bitcoin.
Trump rallies crypto leaders, pushes bill to aid bitcoin
The rally traces back to Wednesday, when Trump hosted nearly two dozen crypto executives at the White House, including the chief executives of Coinbase and Robinhood and the Winklevoss twins. Leaders of prediction market firms did not attend.
BULLISH 💥
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS THE U.S. HAS DISCUSSED ACCUMULATING “SIZABLE AMOUNTS” OF #BITCOIN AND CRYPTO
THATS MASSIVE 🚀 pic.twitter.com/neD6pM4GVX
— BITCOINLFG® (@bitcoinlfgo) August 20, 2026
The heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission were also present.
At the meeting, Trump urged lawmakers to pass the CLARITY Act, arguing the crypto bill would give bitcoin and other digital assets clear legal rules and help the United States stay ahead of China. The legislation remains stalled in the Senate despite his push.
The White House meeting came a day before the CFTC held its first Innovation Advisory Committee meeting, covering crypto, prediction markets and artificial intelligence.
Stablecoin rules and bond market moves fuel rally
More regulatory moves followed. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said stablecoin issuers can begin applying in January to issue payment stablecoins under rules tied to last year’s Genius Act.
The change could also benefit banks, since earlier rules barred outside companies from paying interest on stablecoins. Separately, the SEC proposed letting startups raise funds through tokens without running into securities law problems.
A separate development also lifted markets this week. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent moved to calm the bond market after a sell-off pushed the 30-year yield to its highest point since 2007, amid concern over the war in Iran and rising national debt.
Bessent said the Treasury would double its purchases of long-term bonds, which eased investor worries and helped fuel the crypto rally.
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