Bitcoin surged above $72,500 on Thursday, reaching its highest level since late May, as President Donald Trump urged Congress to advance cryptocurrency legislation and broader market conditions supported digital assets.
Bitcoin rose 6.6% to $72,644, while Ethereum gained 11% and XRP advanced 19%. Hyperliquid's token jumped 15% after Trump said Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig was working to bring the decentralized exchange to the US.
The gains followed calls from Trump, regulators and cryptocurrency executives for Congress to pass the Clarity Act.
The proposed legislation would place Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under commodity regulations rather than securities laws. The bill is scheduled for a procedural vote on Sept. 15.
In contrast, US stocks struggled on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 624 points while the S&P 500 declined 0.71% and the Nasdaq Composite dipped over 1%.
Short squeeze and lower yields support Bitcoin
Bitcoin's latest advance came a day after crypto markets recorded their largest-ever short-liquidation event.
CoinGlass data showed that $664 million worth of Bitcoin short positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours.
The rally was also supported by expectations of lower long-term borrowing costs.
The Treasury said Wednesday that it would at least double the size of its longer-term bond buybacks, helping halt a recent rise in bond yields.
Lower yields can support cryptocurrencies by making interest-bearing assets less attractive and increasing liquidity in financial markets.
However, bond yields gained on Thursday putting pressure on US stocks. Cryptocurrencies seemed to shrug off the higher borrowing costs for now.
Gideon Hyams, chairman and co-founder of STS Digital, said the short squeeze was not the only factor behind the move.
"Squeezes start rallies, but they don't sustain them, and this one has more behind it than forced buying," Hyams said. He pointed to falling long-term yields, returning ETF flows and greater regulatory clarity as factors that could support a sustained trend.
Nansen senior research analyst Nicolai Søndergaard similarly said short covering accelerated the breakout but did not create it. He noted that stronger spot and ETF demand were also supporting Bitcoin's move.
Bitcoin faces test above $70,000
Despite the rally, analysts are watching whether Bitcoin can maintain its gains after the short squeeze subsides.
Søndergaard said the cryptocurrency's technical outlook had improved but warned that leveraged long positions had become crowded. Continued spot buying could therefore determine whether Bitcoin holds above $70,000.
"Sustained acceptance above $70,000 would keep the outlook constructive, while a pullback toward the 69,700–69,000 area would be a normal test of the breakout rather than an automatic trend reversal," he said.
CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju said Bitcoin demand had turned positive in both spot and perpetual futures markets for the first time since the October 2025 all-time high. However, he cautioned that the scale remained modest.
"The scale remains modest, but if this holds for another month, it would be reasonable to conclude that the bear market is over and a new bull cycle has begun," Ju said.
Bitcoin is also approaching a widely watched golden cross, with its 50-day simple moving average at $64,217 and its 200-day average at $68,975.
The cryptocurrency was trading above both averages, although the durability of the move will depend on continued demand.