Bitcoin Tops $72K as Treasury Liquidity Boost and SEC's New Crypto Framework Fuel a Risk-On Rally

Bitcoin Tops $72K as Treasury Liquidity Boost and SEC's New Crypto Framework Fuel a Risk-On Rally

Bitcoin climbed above $72,000 on Thursday, its highest level since June 1, extending a rally that began Wednesday when the token jumped more than 7% off a $64,000 base. Ether moved even faster, adding close to 18% over the same stretch to trade above $2,250. The move is the steepest two-day advance either asset has posted since March, and it is being driven by two separate but overlapping developments in Washington: a liquidity operation from the Treasury and a regulatory proposal from the SEC.

A Treasury move ignites the squeeze

On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury said it would at least double the size of its buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities, a move that eased yields and, by extension, financing conditions across risk assets. Crypto derivatives desks reacted first and hardest: roughly $1.1 billion in short positions were liquidated within hours, based on data compiled by market trackers, as traders who had bet against a rebound were forced to cover. That squeeze, layered on top of a broader risk-on rotation following a White House meeting between President Trump and crypto industry executives, accounts for most of the price action. Solana and XRP moved in sympathy, both posting double-digit gains over the same window.

Washington adds a regulatory tailwind

The rally isn't purely a liquidity story. The SEC this week formally proposed "Regulation Crypto Assets," a framework that would create two new exemptions for crypto companies raising capital and an investment-contract safe harbor for token issuers, alongside disclosure requirements scaled to offering size. The proposal also lays out a path for mature networks — a category that would likely include Bitcoin and Ether — to exit securities classification once they meet a defined set of "core managerial" milestones. Separately, the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee met Thursday to discuss crypto market structure alongside AI and prediction markets, part of a broader push by regulators to publish clearer rules while Congress stalls.

The bill still stuck in the Senate

That congressional stall is worth naming directly, because it cuts against the optimism elsewhere. The CLARITY Act — the market-structure bill the industry has treated as its top legislative priority — has seen its odds of passing in 2026 collapse, according to Galaxy Research, which cut its probability estimate to roughly 10% from 75% in May. A cloture vote is scheduled for mid-September, but researchers point to an unresolved Senate ethics dispute, over how strictly to limit government officials' personal crypto holdings, as the main obstacle. In other words, agencies are moving on their own timeline while the legislative track loses momentum.

What it adds up to

Thursday's rally reflects both stories at once: a short-term liquidity trigger that forced positioning to unwind fast, and a slower-moving regulatory shift that gives institutions more clarity on how to operate even without new legislation. The two are reinforcing each other for now, but they rest on different foundations — one a Treasury operation that can be adjusted at the next auction, the other a rulemaking process that still has to clear public comment. Markets are pricing in follow-through on both; whether that holds depends on how the SEC's proposal fares in comment and how much further the CFTC and White House can move without Congress.