Bitcoin Soars to $72K as Trump Advocates for Crypto CLARITY Act
Bitcoin has spectacularly surged past the $72,000 mark for the first time since early June 2026. This impressive leap represents a 22% weekly gain — the best five-day performance since March 2024. This surge comes in the wake of President Donald Trump hosting top cryptocurrency executives at the White House on August 20. During this meeting, he urged Congress to expedite the passage of the stalled CLARITY Act. This landmark legislation aims to define the regulatory status of digital assets, classifying them either as securities or commodities.
The White House event saw the gathering of CEOs from leading crypto firms such as Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood, Ripple, and ChainLink. This regulatory optimism triggered a massive short squeeze, leading to approximately $2.7 billion in crypto short positions being liquidated, as reported by CoinGlass. Other cryptocurrencies also experienced a surge, with Ethereum (ETH) rising over 18% to trade above $2,260, and XRP jumping nearly 20%. Crypto-related stocks followed suit, with Strategy climbing 29%, Coinbase up 25%, and Circle Internet rising 22% for the week.
Geoffrey Kendrick, the global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, suggests that investors should now be positioning for a Bitcoin move to $100,000 by year-end 2026. The CLARITY Act is currently awaiting a procedural Senate vote scheduled for September. Its passage is seen as a potential catalyst to end the prolonged crypto bear market.
Source: Forbes – Bitcoin Soars Above $70,000 After Trump Urges Passage of Clarity Act (August 20, 2026)