#BTC升破70000美元日内涨幅8.3% BTC Breaks Above $70k: Has the Big Move Really Arrived? A Rally Fueled by Short Squeezes, Policy, and Liquidity

Has the big move really arrived?
On August 19, Bitcoin finally broke through the key level around $70k; Ethereum also reclaimed the level around $2,300, gaining more than 20% in 24 hours. More importantly, this was not an ordinary slow climb, but a rare short squeeze that unfolded within an extremely short period.
Data showed that on August 19, more than $1 billion worth of Bitcoin short positions were liquidated in the crypto market, while total short liquidations across the entire market reached around $1.7 billion for the day. Bitcoin Magazine reported that Bitcoin's price came close to $70k at one point, forcing a large number of short positions to close.
The “low volatility, high leverage, waiting for a directional move” scenario we had been discussing finally saw its first real directional release. Moreover, this rise was driven by more than just technical factors. U.S. policy, liquidity, institutional capital, and crowded shorts are all changing at the same time.
I. The Second-Largest Short Liquidation Day: Shorts Are Paying the Price for Their Earlier Bearish Bets
For some time, Bitcoin had traded sideways for an extended period, while market volatility continued to decline. This environment easily creates the illusion that “BTC can no longer rise.” As a result, more and more traders began shorting through perpetual contracts. When the price fails to fall for an extended period, short positions continue to accumulate. The problem is that leveraged trading fears not merely being slightly wrong, but rather: an incorrect directional judgment + crowded positions + high leverage. On August 19, BTC suddenly broke rapidly through a key price zone. The first shorts were liquidated; exchanges automatically bought BTC to close the positions; the price continued rising; a second wave of shorts was liquidated; and those liquidations generated new buying. This created the classic positive feedback loop: rise → shorts blow up → forced buying → faster rise → more shorts blow up. Reports indicated that Bitcoin short liquidations exceeded $1 billion within a single hour at one point, making it one of the most intense short squeezes of the year. This is the most terrifying—and at the same time, the most explosive—aspect of the perpetual contract market.
II. Why Was This Short Squeeze So Violent?
Because the market had already accumulated too much “fuel.”
We have seen several signals over the past few weeks, and they have finally converged: low volatility + high leverage + a narrow trading range + crowded shorts. In a normal market, this structure could persist for a long time. But once the price breaks in one direction, the derivatives market begins to reinforce itself. This is especially true in high-leverage perpetual markets such as Hyperliquid, where whale positions are highly concentrated. Data previously circulating in the market showed that one whale held a short position of around 1,800 BTC with leverage of roughly 40x. Once such a position reaches its liquidation price, it is not a matter of whether you “want to sell”; the system forcibly buys it back for you. This is why BTC can complete within a few hours a gain that would take days or even weeks in an ordinary market.
III. But What Really Matters Is More Than the Short Squeeze
If this rise were merely the result of short liquidations, the market could quickly retreat once the short squeeze ended. What is truly worth watching is that more and more policy catalysts have emerged behind this rise. On August 19, U.S. President Trump held a meeting with crypto industry executives at the White House and once again publicly supported crypto regulatory reform, urging Congress to advance the CLARITY Act.
Reuters reported that Trump emphasized that establishing a clear digital-asset regulatory framework is very important for the United States to maintain its leading position in the industry.
At the same time, the U.S. SEC is advancing a new regulatory framework for crypto assets.
On August 18, the SEC proposed a new set of rules providing eligible crypto projects with more flexible financing options, including a one-time exemption for offerings of up to $5 million with a four-year term, as well as another exemption allowing up to $75 million every 12 months. The rules would still require relevant disclosures while retaining anti-fraud and anti-manipulation provisions. This means that U.S. regulatory policy is showing a very clear shift: in the past, the question was “Are crypto assets securities?” Now it is gradually becoming “How can crypto assets develop legally within a regulatory framework?” This is highly significant for the valuation framework of the entire industry.
IV. Trump Even Sent an Even Bigger Signal: The U.S. May Continue Buying BTC
This may be one of the most important pieces of news for the market today. During the White House event, Trump said that the U.S. government had previously discussed further accumulating “large amounts” of Bitcoin and other digital assets. No specific purchase size, funding source, or implementation timetable has been announced, so this cannot be interpreted as meaning that the U.S. government has already begun buying BTC on a large scale. But from a policy perspective, it at least shows that U.S. government ownership of Bitcoin is shifting from an aggressive policy proposal into a national asset-allocation issue that can be discussed publicly. This is also consistent with the earlier policy of establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve. What the market is really trading is not how much BTC was bought today, but whether the United States will become a long-term strategic buyer of Bitcoin. Once this expectation strengthens further, Bitcoin’s valuation logic will change.
V. The SEC + CLARITY Act + U.S. Strategic Reserve: Three Lines Are Converging
Looking at recent U.S. policies together reveals something very interesting.
First: the SEC establishes a crypto-asset regulatory framework.
Second: Congress advances the CLARITY Act, clarifying the regulatory boundaries between the SEC and the CFTC.
Third: the U.S. government studies expanding its digital-asset reserves. If these three initiatives are gradually implemented, it will mean that the United States is moving from “allowing Bitcoin to exist” toward “establishing institutions to absorb Bitcoin.” This is more important than ETF inflows alone. ETFs solve the question of how investors buy BTC. Regulation solves the question of how the entire financial system can use BTC over the long term.
VI. So, Has the “Big Rally” Really Arrived?
My view is that the first phase of the rally has arrived, but the second phase cannot yet be confirmed.
Phase one: the short squeeze. It has already happened. A large number of shorts were forced to close, creating massive buying pressure. Phase two: a trend reversal. This is what needs to be watched now. If BTC can next: hold above $70k → see increased volume → attract renewed ETF inflows → see ETH continue to strengthen → see altcoins begin to follow, then this will no longer be a simple short squeeze, but could signal a genuine trend reversal. Conversely, if: BTC retreats after rising sharply; trading volume quickly contracts; ETFs fail to follow; and capital shifts back into defensive positions, then this rise may still be nothing more than an extreme short squeeze.
Conclusion: The Real Big Rally May Only Now Be Undergoing Confirmation
Over the past month, we have been waiting for an answer: after low volatility, where exactly would Bitcoin break out? On August 19, the market gave its first answer:
Upward. And it was not a moderate rise, but a rapid breakout driven by short liquidations.
More importantly, as the price broke out, the U.S. policy environment was also changing: the SEC began establishing a dedicated crypto regulatory pathway; Trump publicly pushed for the CLARITY Act; and the U.S. government even began discussing further accumulation of Bitcoin.
The market is therefore gradually shifting from simply “trading the price of BTC” to “trading U.S. crypto policy + global liquidity + institutional allocation + BTC supply and demand.”
But investors must also remain clear-headed: $1.7 billion in short liquidations is not itself a confirmation signal for a bull market. It merely tells us that the short fuel accumulated earlier has been ignited.
What truly matters next is whether new spot capital will take over. If it does, today’s $70k may be only the starting point of the next market cycle. If not, this short squeeze may be nothing more than a fierce but short-lived firework.
So what deserves the most attention now is not “How much has BTC already risen?” but rather “After the shorts were liquidated, who will become the real buyers in the next round?”
If the answer is ETFs, institutions, the U.S. government, and new global liquidity—then this time, the big move may really have arrived. $BTC ‌