Trump pushes the CLARITY Act as Treasury buybacks lift Bitcoin outlooks and ASIC targets AI crypto scams; today’s BTC briefly reached $70K in Greed sentiment. Latest market data shows that volatility across the crypto market has increased significantly, while BTC and ETH have both shown stronger rebound momentum. Bitcoin moved higher and approached $69K before briefly breaking above $70K during intraday trading. Ethereum also recorded a strong rebound, with gains reaching around 19% at one point. Overall market activity increased noticeably during the move. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index rose to 62 today, placing the market in the Greed zone. This marks a clear improvement from the previous Fear environment and suggests that investor risk appetite has started to recover. In terms of fund flows, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net inflows of USD 517 million yesterday, marking their third consecutive trading day of net inflows. Spot Ethereum ETFs also recorded USD 189 million in net inflows and extended their inflow streak to three consecutive days. This shows that spot ETF capital flows remain active across both assets.

According to Coinglass data, liquidation risks remain concentrated around several key price levels in the derivatives market. If BTC falls below $66,174, cumulative long liquidation intensity across major CEXs could reach around USD 1.62 billion. If BTC rises above $72,849, cumulative short liquidation intensity could reach approximately USD 581 million. For ETH, a decline below $2,153 could expose around USD 479 million in long liquidation intensity, while a move above $2,373 could put roughly USD 403 million in short liquidation intensity at risk. Overall, both BTC and ETH have large leveraged positions concentrated near their current key price ranges, suggesting that short-term competition between long and short positions remains intense.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

Trump Again Urges Senate to Advance CLARITY Act as U.S. Crypto Market Structure Legislation Moves Forward

U.S. President Donald Trump has again publicly urged Congress to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and said he hopes the Senate will pass a “fair version” of the crypto market structure bill. Trump made the remarks at a White House event attended by several crypto industry executives and again linked U.S. digital asset policy with the country’s position in global industry competition. The CLARITY Act passed the House of Representatives in July 2025 but has remained in the Senate without completing the next stages of the legislative process. Current areas of debate include the regulation of tokenized stocks, stablecoin reward mechanisms, and potential conflicts of interest involving government officials and the crypto industry. An executive from a major CEX said the bill could receive more than 60 votes if the Senate resolves the remaining procedural issues and argued that clearer market structure rules could help establish a more stable long-term policy framework. However, some senators continue to call for stricter conflict-of-interest and ethics provisions, showing that lawmakers still differ over the final version of the bill. While Congress has yet to complete the CLARITY Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new crypto asset rules, including safe harbor provisions and registration exemptions for certain token offerings. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission also plans to continue discussions on digital assets, decentralized trading services, and other emerging market issues through its innovation advisory framework. Overall, U.S. crypto regulation is moving forward through both congressional legislation and federal regulatory rulemaking, while the CLARITY Act’s progress in the Senate remains one of the key policy developments being closely watched by the market.

Standard Chartered Analyst Highlights Expanded U.S. Treasury Buybacks and Outlines $100K Bitcoin Year-End Scenario

Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick said in his latest client report that the U.S. Treasury’s expansion of its long-term Treasury buyback program has introduced new changes to financial market liquidity conditions. He also outlined a scenario in which Bitcoin could move toward $100K by the end of the year. The outlook represents the analyst’s market assessment rather than a confirmed price target, and the report mainly links recent Bitcoin price movements with liquidity changes in the long-term U.S. Treasury market. The U.S. Treasury announced that it will increase the maximum size of certain liquidity-support buyback operations for longer-dated government securities. The maximum amount for each buyback of 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year nominal coupon securities will increase from USD 2 billion to at least USD 4 billion. The expanded operations are expected to run from September 9 to November 4 and are mainly intended to improve trading and liquidity conditions in the long-term Treasury market. Long-term U.S. Treasury yields declined noticeably following the announcement, easing some of the pressure created by the earlier sharp bond market sell-off. Kendrick also identified $65,500 as an important level in his report and said Bitcoin’s recent recovery above this area is one of the key factors for assessing the market’s current cycle position. Bitcoin later rebounded rapidly toward $69K, with intraday gains exceeding 6% at one point alongside large-scale short covering. It is important to note that $100K is a market scenario presented in the analyst’s report rather than a confirmed price outcome. The view mainly reflects how some institutional researchers are assessing the possible relationship between U.S. Treasury liquidity operations and the digital asset market.

ASIC Removes 3,106 Crypto Investment Scams in FY2026 as AI Deepfakes Become a Major Tool

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said it removed more than 19,400 online scams during the 2026 financial year, representing an increase of 182% from the previous year. The total included 3,106 websites or platforms linked to cryptocurrency investment scams, while the number of crypto investment scams rose by nearly 30% from the previous period. ASIC said scam groups are increasingly using generative AI to create deepfake videos and impersonate politicians, financial commentators, and other well-known public figures to promote fraudulent investment products. Some schemes now go beyond creating a single fake website and may also include fake news pages, imitation media websites, AI-generated reviews, and social media accounts that together form a broader network of misleading information. Victims may first encounter advertisements promising high investment returns on social media before being redirected to fake crypto trading interfaces or automated trading service websites. Some fraudulent platforms also display small fake profits during the early stages to build credibility and encourage users to deposit more funds. Data from Australia’s National Anti-Scam Centre shows that scams involving the impersonation of celebrities and public figures have resulted in more than USD 7.4 million in reported losses. ASIC also warned that some fraudsters steal or falsify Australian financial services licence information to make fraudulent platforms appear properly regulated. ASIC and Scamwatch have urged consumers to verify a service provider’s licence and contact information through official registers before transferring funds or digital assets and to check whether the relevant entity or domain appears on the Moneysmart Investor Alert List. Over the past three years, ASIC has taken action against more than 33,400 malicious links, fraudulent investment platforms, and social media advertisements, while the wider use of generative AI is making scam content increasingly sophisticated across visuals, written materials, and identity impersonation.

Bitcoin Briefly Breaks Above $70K as Large-Scale Short Liquidations Amplify Crypto Market Rebound

Bitcoin rebounded sharply on August 20, with intraday gains approaching 8% at one point and the price briefly breaking above $70K to reach its highest level since early June. The move triggered large-scale short liquidations, with more than USD 1 billion in Bitcoin short positions reportedly liquidated within roughly one hour. This made the event one of the more significant Bitcoin short squeezes since 2021. When short positions are liquidated, they must be closed through market purchases, and the resulting forced buying added further momentum to Bitcoin’s upward move. The market had accumulated a relatively large amount of bearish leveraged positioning before the rally, so once Bitcoin broke above its previous major trading range, successive liquidations quickly amplified short-term price volatility. On the macro side, the U.S. Treasury announced an expansion of its buyback operations for 10- to 30-year government securities. Long-term Treasury yields declined afterward, while global risk assets also showed a noticeable reaction. On the policy side, the U.S. government again discussed market structure regulation with representatives from the crypto industry during the same week, while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed new rules for digital asset issuance. The rebound was not limited to Bitcoin. Ethereum gained as much as around 19% intraday and recorded one of its largest single-day advances since March, while shares of several publicly listed crypto-related companies also moved higher. This shows that the rebound expanded from Bitcoin into the broader digital asset and crypto-related equity markets. Overall, the rapid market rebound occurred alongside macro liquidity developments, regulatory events, and concentrated short liquidations in the derivatives market, with large-scale deleveraging becoming one of the key factors that amplified the day’s price volatility.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only and doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.