The biggest short squeeze in crypto since 2021

Bitcoin just broke $72,000. $3 billion in shorts got wiped out overnight. Trump invited crypto CEOs to the White House. And X wants to pay influencers in stablecoins. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ SPONSORED BY Thursday, August 20, 2026   Bitcoin broke out of its six-week range overnight, surging above $72,000 for the first time since June 1. The trigger was the bond market, not crypto: the White House signaled support for Treasury buybacks, yields pulled back from their multi-decade highs, the Dollar Index collapsed to a three-month low of 98.77, and suddenly bitcoin — which had been locked at $64,000 while the dollar was strong and yields were surging — had the conditions it needed. The move wiped out $3 billion in short positions, the largest forced-short-closing wave since 2021. XRP jumped 15%. ETH jumped 18%. Ether hit $2,250. And simultaneously, Trump hosted the CEOs of Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Chainlink and others at the White House, calling on Congress to pass the Clarity Act. The rally raises a genuine question: how much of this was already priced into a bill that still hasn’t cleared 60 Senate votes? Read today’s full report → Market snapshot As of 8am EST Asset Price 24h BTC $71,936 +11.74% ETH $2,250 +18.00% SOL $88.40 +17.60% XRP $1.14 +15.00% Prices approximate. Visit coindesk.com/price for live data. A message from Grayscale Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF (ticker: HYPG) is the lowest-fee HYPE fund in the U.S.1 Hyperliquid is emerging as critical infrastructure for onchain markets — a high-performance blockchain that processed nearly $3 trillion in derivatives volume and generated ~$800 million in revenue in 2025, with no venture capital backing.2 Lowest management fee in its category (0.29%) Over $100 million in AUM3 Potential staking rewards — HYPG seeks to stake 70%+ of its assets; HYPE staking rewards averaged ~2.2% last year.4 HYPG, an exchange traded product, is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“40 Act”), and therefore is not subject to the same regulations and protections as 40 Act registered ETFs and mutual funds. HYPG is subject to significant risk and heightened volatility. HYPG is not suitable for an investor who cannot afford the loss of the entire investment. An investment in HYPG is not a direct investment in HYPE. Learn more 1 Lowest-fee HYPE fund in the U.S. based on management fee of 0.29%. Brokerage fees and other expenses may apply. 2 Crypto Briefing, December 26, 2025. 3 Bloomberg L.P. as of 6/X/26. Subject to change. 4 Stakingrewards.com. Historical daily average measured from 5/1/25 to 04/21/26. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This information must be preceded or accompanied by a Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF prospectus, which may be obtained by clicking here. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. This information should not be relied upon as research, investment advice, or a recommendation regarding any security in particular. Potential staking rewards are earned by the Fund. Staking rewards are not guaranteed and should not be considered an indication of Fund performance. The Fund’s ability to engage in staking is conditional and may be modified. Staking requires that the Fund lock up HYPE for the period of time required by the staking protocol, meaning the Fund cannot sell or transfer the staked HYPE, thereby making it illiquid for the period it is being staked. Foreside Fund Services, LLC is the Marketing Agent for the Fund. © 2026 Grayscale. CoinDesk Disclosure: The information contained in this newsletter, and any information linked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency or digital assets. L1.co Disclosure: This material is for informational purposes only, and the content contained herein should not be considered investment advice or a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to sell or buy any asset, strategy, or product. Investing in digital assets involves a high degree of risk, including the loss of principal. What matters today Markets   Story 1 of 3 Fed liquidity promises and dollar weakness could determine bitcoin’s next move. What snapped bitcoin out of its six-week range was not a crypto catalyst — it was a bond-market one. The White House signaled support for increased Treasury buybacks, which calmed the global bond selloff that had pushed the U.S. 30-year yield to nearly 5.34% on Tuesday. Yields pulled back. The Dollar Index collapsed 0.88% to 98.77, its lowest level since May, breaking below a key technical support level. Bitcoin, which had been range-bound partly because the strong dollar made non-yielding assets expensive to hold, suddenly had room to move. It did: surging from the $64,000 range to above $72,000 — a 14% advance that pressed above the $68,000 resistance level on the weekly chart that it had recently failed to penetrate. On the technical read, a confirmed weekly close above $68,000 opens a path to the next resistance at $78,000. The move produced $3.3 billion in total liquidations across crypto markets, with $3 billion of those coming from shorts — the largest wave of forced short closures in records going back to 2021. ETFs drew roughly $700 million in inflows, the biggest single-day haul in months. Pedro Fontes of Mercado Bitcoin framed the structural argument: “If the world’s largest debt market needs support in order to function with greater stability, demand grows for assets that are scarce, predictable, and outside the logic of public debt expansion.” Matt Cole, CEO of Strive, added on X that he has long believed the Dollar Index is in a “structural decline that is likely to continue,” which he described as a bullish environment for bitcoin. The caveat going into Thursday: BTC’s margin-borrow rate has risen to 4.6% from 3.9% before the rally — meaning traders are re-entering short positions into the strength. Initial jobless claims land today and geopolitical developments around Iran remain a live variable. Read more → Finance   Story 2 of 3 Elon Musk’s X is exploring stablecoins to pay influencers and content providers. Elon Musk’s X is in discussions about using stablecoins, including Circle’s USDC, to pay royalties to content creators and influential users on the platform, according to a person familiar with the plans. The conversations are ongoing and X has not publicly confirmed them — the company did not respond to requests for comment — but the person said they also work with other social media platforms exploring stablecoins for creator payments, framing it as an industry-wide trend rather than an X-specific initiative. The direction is consistent with Musk’s existing stablecoin exposure: SpaceX already uses stablecoins to collect cross-border payments from Starlink customers in emerging markets, where traditional payment rails are slow or expensive. In March Musk hired Benji Taylor — who led design at Coinbase’s Base network — as head of design at X, with a role that also spans xAI and SpaceX, tying the platform’s design leadership to someone with deep wallet and DeFi experience. X is simultaneously overhauling how it compensates creators: it is phasing out its Revenue Sharing program in favor of a new Original Content Rewards Program designed to pay creators for original ideas, reporting and commentary rather than for driving engagement through reposting. Using stablecoins for that payout layer would give X an instant global payment rail without currency conversion friction — particularly valuable for the large share of its creator base outside the United States. If implemented, the move would represent one of the largest-scale real-world deployments of stablecoins for consumer-facing creator payments, in a market where the total stablecoin cap has now surpassed $300 billion. The wider stablecoin ecosystem also got a boost this week: the U.S. Treasury Department proposed its approach to stablecoin rules under the GENIUS Act and the FASB proposed treating stablecoins as cash equivalents in accounting standards — two regulatory moves that collectively reduce the friction for platforms like X to build stablecoin payment infrastructure. Read more → Policy   Story 3 of 3 Trump pushes Congress to move on the Clarity Act at a White House crypto event. President Trump hosted the CEOs of Coinbase, Gemini, Ripple, Chainlink Labs and others at the White House on Wednesday, calling on Congress to pass “a fair version” of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. “We’ll open the door to the next wave of innovations and innovators,” Trump told the assembled executives. “Keep us ahead of China, keep us ahead of everyone else.” The gathering preceded the first meeting of the new CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee on Thursday, which includes the chief executives of Kraken, Anchorage Digital, Grayscale and OKX among others. Chainlink Labs CEO Sergey Nazarov told CoinDesk that Trump took the group aside to the Oval Office for further discussion, seeking feedback on what the administration should be doing and discussing the path to passing the Clarity Act. Nazarov said Trump and his advisers “thought that it was very doable,” outlining “a few small issues” and naming a handful of senators who need to be persuaded. The open question is the Democratic side: negotiators have sought ethics limits on Trump’s personal crypto involvement — and by extension other senior officials across all three branches of government — a sticking point that has created an awkward dynamic for a bill the White House is simultaneously championing. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins framed his agency’s new Reg Crypto proposal directly in terms of the bill’s importance: “Our proposal would provide crypto entrepreneurs the certainty to raise capital in the United States… and the SEC is doing everything we can to support that work.” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called the Clarity Act “a true bipartisan compromise” and urged everyone to get it over the finish line. The bill has a final Senate window in September before Congress goes on a lengthy recess through November. It still hasn’t been tested for the 60 votes it would need to clear. A separate debate has now opened: whether the rally that took bitcoin to $72,000 overnight has already priced in a Clarity Act passage — or whether there is still more to come if the Senate delivers. Read more → CoinDesk Disclosure: The information contained in this newsletter, and any information linked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency or digital assets. L1.co Disclosure: This material is for informational purposes only, and the content contained herein should not be considered investment advice or a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to sell or buy any asset, strategy, or product. Investing in digital assets involves a high degree of risk, including the loss of principal. Crypto Daybook Americas: A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.  Copyright © 2026 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  CoinDesk, Inc., 61 9th Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011, USA Unsubscribe Manage preferences

The SEC just wrote its first real crypto rule

The SEC just issued its first real crypto rule — after canceling the meeting to vote on it. Bond yields are at multi-decade highs everywhere. FOMC minutes drop today. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ SPONSORED BY Wednesday, August 19, 2026   After canceling the meeting meant to vote on it just five days ago, the SEC quietly dropped its first major crypto rule proposal Tuesday evening. “Regulation Crypto Assets” offers two paths for token projects to raise money without being treated as securities offerings — a $5 million startup track and a $75 million annual track with fuller disclosure requirements. It opens 60 days for public comment and doesn’t resolve everything, but it’s the first formal rulemaking in Chairman Paul Atkins’ tenure. Meanwhile the bond market is sending a loud macro signal: the U.S. 30-year Treasury briefly hit 5.333% — the highest in nearly two decades — while Japanese, German and French government bond yields simultaneously hit multi-decade highs. Stocks fell on all three sessions this week. Bitcoin, six weeks into the same $61,500–$66,900 range, has held. FOMC minutes drop today, and with three of twelve Fed voters dissenting in favor of a rate hike at July’s meeting, this release matters more than usual. Stay alert. Read today’s full report → Market snapshot As of 8am EST Asset Price 24h BTC $64,431 +0.41% ETH $1,903 +0.20% SOL $75.20 +1.20% XRP $0.99 −0.50% Prices approximate. Visit coindesk.com/price for live data. A message from Grayscale Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF (ticker: HYPG) is the lowest-fee HYPE fund in the U.S.1 Hyperliquid is emerging as critical infrastructure for onchain markets — a high-performance blockchain that processed nearly $3 trillion in derivatives volume and generated ~$800 million in revenue in 2025, with no venture capital backing.2 Lowest management fee in its category (0.29%) Over $100 million in AUM3 Potential staking rewards — HYPG seeks to stake 70%+ of its assets; HYPE staking rewards averaged ~2.2% last year.4 HYPG, an exchange traded product, is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“40 Act”), and therefore is not subject to the same regulations and protections as 40 Act registered ETFs and mutual funds. HYPG is subject to significant risk and heightened volatility. HYPG is not suitable for an investor who cannot afford the loss of the entire investment. An investment in HYPG is not a direct investment in HYPE. Learn more 1 Lowest-fee HYPE fund in the U.S. based on management fee of 0.29%. Brokerage fees and other expenses may apply. 2 Crypto Briefing, December 26, 2025. 3 Bloomberg L.P. as of 6/X/26. Subject to change. 4 Stakingrewards.com. Historical daily average measured from 5/1/25 to 04/21/26. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This information must be preceded or accompanied by a Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF prospectus, which may be obtained by clicking here. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. This information should not be relied upon as research, investment advice, or a recommendation regarding any security in particular. Potential staking rewards are earned by the Fund. Staking rewards are not guaranteed and should not be considered an indication of Fund performance. The Fund’s ability to engage in staking is conditional and may be modified. Staking requires that the Fund lock up HYPE for the period of time required by the staking protocol, meaning the Fund cannot sell or transfer the staked HYPE, thereby making it illiquid for the period it is being staked. Foreside Fund Services, LLC is the Marketing Agent for the Fund. © 2026 Grayscale. CoinDesk Disclosure: The information contained in this newsletter, and any information linked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency or digital assets. L1.co Disclosure: This material is for informational purposes only, and the content contained herein should not be considered investment advice or a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to sell or buy any asset, strategy, or product. Investing in digital assets involves a high degree of risk, including the loss of principal. What matters today Markets   Story 1 of 3 Fed decision-making comes into focus as bitcoin holds steady and bond yields surge. Bitcoin has been locked between $61,500 and $66,900 since July 8 — six weeks without a decisive break in either direction — while a global bond rout has unfolded around it. The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield briefly touched 5.333% on Tuesday, its highest level in nearly two decades. Japan’s 10-year yield hit a 30-year high; Germany’s 30-year bund reached levels last seen in 2011; France’s equivalent went back to 2008. The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.3% on Tuesday — its steepest single-session loss since early August — and the S&P 500 posted its third straight daily decline. Bitcoin’s 30-day realized volatility has hit multi-year lows while implied volatility has stayed elevated, meaning the market expects a big move without knowing which direction it goes. The 72% chance of no September rate hike on Polymarket and the 67% on CME’s FedWatch both suggest traders think the Fed holds, but that view rests on softening data from a few weeks ago — data that predates the recent oil surge and the record crack spread. The FOMC minutes from the July 28-29 meeting, releasing today, are therefore unusually important: at that meeting, three of the twelve voting members dissented in favor of a rate hike, making this one of the more closely watched releases of the year. Whatever tone the minutes set will either confirm or complicate the market’s 72% base case. For bitcoin, the opportunity cost argument cuts both ways: a 30-year Treasury paying above 5% is a genuine competitor, but gold — which also pays nothing — has gained 8% this month while bitcoin is flat, suggesting something else beyond yield competition is driving the divergence. Brent crude is at $91. The dollar is soft. Maya Protocol was exploited for $11 million overnight. Read more → Markets   Story 2 of 3 Bitcoin stuck in a six-week range as global bond yields hit highest levels for decades. Bitcoin’s derivatives market paints a picture of a market in suspended animation. Open interest has drifted to $21.8 billion, down from the $23 billion peak seen around August 11. The decline, alongside range-bound price action, suggests traders are unwinding positioning rather than building new bets — consistent with a market waiting for a catalyst. The long-short taker ratio remains marginally bullish across short timeframes but flips slightly bearish on the daily, at 50.21% in favor of shorts, suggesting overnight positioning is less decisive than intraday activity. Funding rates remain marginally positive across major venues (BTC’s OI-weighted rate at 0.0049%, ETH at 0.0022%), far from the elevated levels that would signal overleveraged longs. The largest single liquidation in the past 24 hours was a $23.35 million BTC-USD position on Hyperliquid. On Deribit, short-dated implied volatility sits at 20.4% for the August 20 expiry with the expected price move priced at roughly ±$656 — and options activity concentrated around $64,000–$65,000. The BTC futures basis is broadly positive but modest: August 28 contracts show annualized basis of around 12%, September 25 Deribit at 7.12% — upside priced in, but without excessive optimism. In token news: ENA gained 2.99% to $0.0852; LINK added 1.82% to $9.70 after Standard Chartered’s bullish forecast last month; NEAR rose 1.76% as AI-adjacent tokens found buyers; PUMP fell 3.23% giving back Monday’s gains. The CMC Altcoin Season indicator is at 44/100, holding firm since a dip to 37/100 on August 7. And the divergence that tells the summer story plainly: gold is up 8% this month while BTC is flat. If this were purely about yield competition, gold would be flat too. Bitcoin is facing a different headwind. Read more → Policy   Story 3 of 3 The SEC just proposed its first major crypto rule. It came as a surprise. Five days after canceling the meeting that was supposed to vote on it, the SEC issued its first significant crypto rulemaking on Tuesday evening. Chairman Paul Atkins’s commission released a proposal for “Regulation Crypto Assets” — distinct from the separately stalled “innovation exemption” for tokenized securities — which would create two formal pathways for token projects to raise money without triggering full securities-law requirements. The first is a startup track: up to $5 million over a four-year period, with public filings at the start and end of that window. The second allows up to $75 million per year but requires more disclosure, including financial statements and ongoing reporting requirements similar to certain investment-contract rules. Both tracks are subject to anti-fraud and manipulation provisions within securities law. Crucially, the proposal also includes a safe harbor that lets a crypto asset exit investment-contract status once the issuer has completed all essential management efforts it promised — a direct response to one of the industry’s longest-standing complaints that completed projects remain trapped under securities law. “Today, we are charting a new course with a package of exemptions that would facilitate capital formation and allow crypto asset innovation to flourish in the United States,” Atkins said. The SEC is inviting 60 days of public comment before it can finalize the rule. Atkins was clear that legislation still matters: “Legislation remains indispensable to enacting future-proofed rules of the road.” Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said the agency incorporated several industry suggestions. The proposal is meaningful even at the proposal stage — the cancellation of the meeting just days earlier had given the impression that the SEC was pulling back, making the surprise release all the more notable. Congress has three weeks of floor time in September to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act before a lengthy recess, and the Senate’s ability to get to 60 votes remains the open question. Read more → CoinDesk Disclosure: The information contained in this newsletter, and any information linked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency or digital assets. L1.co Disclosure: This material is for informational purposes only, and the content contained herein should not be considered investment advice or a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to sell or buy any asset, strategy, or product. Investing in digital assets involves a high degree of risk, including the loss of principal. Crypto Daybook Americas: A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.  Copyright © 2026 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  CoinDesk, Inc., 61 9th Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011, USA Unsubscribe Manage preferences