Bitcoin rose at its fastest pace in nearly half a year following interventions by the Ministry of Finance
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Bitcoin has emerged from its summer slump, rebounding to early June levels following U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s interventions in the bond market and an optimistic meeting between crypto industry representatives and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.
On August 20, the digital currency rose 6.2% to $72,627, marking its largest percentage gain since March 4, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), noting that Bitcoin last traded above $70,000 in early June. Overall, Bitcoin has jumped 12% over the past two days, according to CNBC. However, despite this rally, the digital asset is still trading about 40% below its October 2025 high—when Bitcoin was worth about $126,000.
What drove the growth?
Although Bessent’s plan to increase purchases of long-term U.S. Treasury bonds only temporarily lowered borrowing costs (which typically has a positive effect on risky assets such as Bitcoin), analysts note that, overall, the Treasury’s move sent a positive signal to the crypto market, according to Reuters.
Other crypto assets followed Bitcoin’s optimistic momentum, according to CNBC. For example, after rising 9% on Wednesday, Coinbase shares jumped more than 7% on Thursday; Circle shares gained 6.4% on August 20; and Strategy shares rose 7.8%.
“The rally [in cryptocurrencies] was fueled by a wave of short-covering after several weeks of an extremely narrow trading range,” noted Alex Kupcikevich, chief market analyst at brokerage firm FxPro, in an analytical note.
Trump’s statements served as an additional positive signal, noted Bo Pei, an analyst at U.S. Tiger Securities. On August 19, during a meeting with executives from leading companies in the crypto industry, the U.S. president called on Congress to pass the Clarity Act, a bill regarding cryptocurrencies. “Trump’s comments <...> indicate that the White House is stepping up direct pressure on Congress to pass this bill,” Bo noted.
What You Need to Know About the Clarity Act
If the Clarity Act is enacted, it will determine whether a cryptocurrency is considered a security or a commodity (this asset class includes, for example, gold and oil), and will delineate the jurisdiction between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with regard to this sector, Reuters explains.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
