Bitcoin Nears $70K, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Surge; Analyst Says It's Only the 'Beginning'

Major cryptocurrencies jumped to multi-month highs on Wednesday as investors digested optimism over the CLARITY Act and other macro developments.

Cryptocurrency 24-Hour Change +/- Price

Bitcoin +7.58% $69,349.38

Ethereum +17.87% $2,256.67

XRP +11.43% $1.13

Solana +10.36% $84.84

Dogecoin +6.94% $0.07484

Crypto Market Erupts

Bitcoin surged nearly 8% to touch $70,000, reaching its highest level since early June. Trading volume spiked 161% over the past 24 hours, indicating massive buying pressure.

Ethereum rose to levels not seen since May 12, with trading volume surging 346%. XRP and Dogecoin also posted significant gains.

Crypto-related stocks also rallied sharply, with Strategy Inc. and Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. closing up 12.68% and 10.72%, respectively.

Growing optimism over the passage of the CLARITY Act in September boosted markets and crypto-related stocks.

According to Coinglass data, nearly $3 billion was liquidated across the crypto market in the past 24 hours, with short positions alone accounting for $2.74 billion in liquidations. This marks the largest single-day short squeeze event in Bitcoin's history.

Bitcoin open interest jumped 5.41% over the past 24 hours. However, sentiment among BTC retail and whale derivatives traders shifted from "bullish" to "neutral."

Market sentiment turned to "greed," according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.

Top 24-Hour Gainers

Cryptocurrency Change +/- Price

OFFICIAL TRUMP +26.45% $1.77

Cash Cat +26.16% $0.1172

Meteora +24.69% $0.2129

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization surged 7.54% over the past 24 hours to reach $2.37 trillion.

Stock Market Reverses Decline

Stocks rebounded sharply on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 119.65 points, or 0.22%, to close at 53,463.05. The S&P 500 gained 0.21% to close at 7,707.98, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.16% to close at 26,331.09.

The U.S. Treasury said it would increase liquidity support for repurchase operations, raising the maximum amount per operation for longer-dated securities from $2 billion to at least $4 billion.

'This Is Only the Beginning'

Widely followed crypto analyst and trader Michaël van de Poppe said the cryptocurrency market is waking up in a big way, with Bitcoin leading the charge, Ethereum showing strength, and Solana following suit.

"As confidence builds and liquidity rotates from Bitcoin into noteworthy assets, more altcoins will start to follow," Van De Poppe predicted.

The market is waking up in a big way, and this is only the beginning. Bitcoin has already moved up first. Ethereum is starting to show strong momentum, and Solana is following.

As confidence builds and liquidity rotates from Bitcoin into... more altcoins will start to follow.

— Michaël van de Poppe August 19, 2026

On-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant noted that both spot and futures demand for Bitcoin have returned to positive territory for the first time in months.

CryptoQuant said that during April and May, only futures demand rose while spot demand "remained underwater."

"This time spot is participating too. That's the difference," the firm added. "Leverage can push prices. But it can't sustain them."

Spot and futures demand

"Both spot and perpetual futures demand growth have returned above zero on the 30-day sum. This is the first time in months that both have been positive simultaneously." — Courtesy of @RugaResearch

Full analysis ⤵️

— CryptoQuant.com August 19, 2026