Bitcoin Surges Past $71,000 on Treasury Moves and White House Backing
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
jpost.com reports that Bitcoin rallied sharply on August 19, 2026, jumping over 8% to briefly reach $69,700, its highest level since June 2. The move followed the US Treasury's decision to double planned buybacks of long-term government bonds, which lowered yields and weakened the dollar. A White House summit with crypto executives saw the Trump administration reaffirm support for the CLARITY Act, which aims to clarify regulatory oversight between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
President Donald Trump noted that building sizable Bitcoin holdings had been discussed but offered no firm confirmation. Ethereum gained 20% and XRP rose 15%, while Solana and other altcoins also posted gains. HYPE surged over 25% after Trump stated his administration was working to bring decentralized exchange Hyperliquid to the US in full compliance.
Crypto stocks followed suit, with Coinbase and Circle rising 10% and Strategy adding 13%. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $517 million in inflows, the largest daily total in over three months. By August 20, Bitcoin pushed above $71,500, potentially marking its first positive August since 2021.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 27 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio spot data shows Bitcoin trading at $79,023.75 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 49.9%, indicating a near-even split between buyers and sellers. Short-term pressure is slightly bearish, as the 1-hour buy ratio sits at 44.0% and the 4-hour ratio is 46.3%, both below the daily average. Volume deltas reflect this imbalance, with -$9,365,201 in the last hour and -$26,934,662 over four hours, showing net selling pressure in the immediate term. Over 24 hours, the volume delta is -$903,088, and cumulative volume delta (CVD) closed at -$101,371,176. This means that while volume was high at $1,148,236,056 across 4,284,527 trades, sellers slightly outweighed buyers on net. Net buying occurred in only 6 of the last 24 hours, suggesting fading momentum in the short window.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What BTC did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Compared to the preceding week, today’s activity shows a deviation from recent norms. The 7-day average buy ratio was 51.6%, making today’s 49.9% reading 1.7 percentage points lower than the weekly average. Volume was also subdued, trading at 0.54x the weekly average. While the coin saw net buying on 6 of the last 7 days, today’s lower buy ratio and reduced volume indicate an unusual day relative to the recent trend. The 8-day price change was +14.0%, with a total volume delta of +$445,688,281, contrasting with today’s slight net outflow.