LIVE: Bitcoin hits $72K as Ether clears $2K and XRP surges 8% after Iran threatened to bomb Europe

Bitcoin was around $63,000 earlier this week, and by Thursday it had climbed more than 5% to just above $72,000, its highest price since June 1. Over the past two days alone, Bitcoin is up more than 11%.

The rally really picked up on Wednesday when Treasury yields suddenly dropped, which took some pressure off riskier assets. About $2.7 billion worth of crypto short positions were liquidated, CoinGlass data showed.

There is also a big policy push happening in Washington. On Wednesday, the White House brought in the CEOs of Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood, Ripple and Chainlink for a last-minute meeting focused on getting the Clarity Act through Congress.

Trump used the meeting to push lawmakers to finish the bill before the end of the year. He said:

“We need Congress to take the next step by passing the Clarity Act – a fair version of the Clarity Act,” Trump said in opening remarks. “It’s a very, very powerful structured legislation which will keep us ahead of China, keep us ahead of everyone else, will open the door to the next wave of innovations and innovators.”

That White House meeting happened just before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s first Innovation Advisory Committee meeting, which is taking place Thursday.

The Clarity Act has become one of the main things crypto traders are watching because the bill would set rules for the US crypto market.

There had been growing doubt that Congress would get it done in 2026 after the Senate left for its August recess without voting on it.

Lawmakers are still split over parts of the bill, including its ethics provision, while Republicans and Democrats have other disagreements that still need to be worked out.

The latest White House push has brought the bill back into focus just as Bitcoin is trading at its strongest level in more than two months.

Gold slipped on Thursday as some traders locked in gains after the metal jumped 4% in the previous session.

Spot gold was down 0.65% at $4,491.75 an ounce, while gold futures edged slightly higher to $4,551.80 an ounce. Spot prices also moved above their 100-day moving average, which sits near $4,381, an important technical level watched by traders.

The US Dollar Index dropped 0.8%. A weaker dollar generally makes gold cheaper for buyers using other currencies because the metal is priced in dollars.

Expectations around the Federal Reserve’s September 15-16 meeting have also shifted after a run of weaker US economic figures reduced expectations for another rate increase. The CME Group FedWatch Tool now puts the probability of the Fed leaving interest rates unchanged at 65%.

Other precious metals moved sharply higher. Silver climbed almost 4% to $65.80 an ounce, while platinum jumped 5.1% to $1,800.02. Palladium rose 2.7% to $1,325.12. Across gold, silver, platinum and palladium, the moves put the metals on course for their strongest daily performance in two weeks.

Asian equities were also broadly higher on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished 1.36% higher at 66,216.79, while South Korea’s Kospi surged 5.89% to 6,852.58.

Technology shares helped drive both markets. In South Korea, heavyweight chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix jumped 9.49% and nearly 13%, respectively. Japanese technology names also gained, with SoftBank Group and Rakuten each rising by more than 3%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.33% to close at 9,083.80. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was up 1.12% during its final hour of trading, while mainland China’s CSI 300 ended the day 0.1% higher at 4,592.375.

The US national debt has now moved beyond $40 trillion, setting another record for the amount the federal government owes. Treasury Department figures showed total debt at $40.05 trillion as of Tuesday.

That milestone comes roughly four and a half years after US debt first crossed $30 trillion.

Federal borrowing has continued to climb as Washington has run increasingly large budget deficits over the years, with spending tied to the Covid pandemic stimulus programs adding heavily to the total.

Debt held by the public is now approaching 100% of US economic output.

The government’s latest monthly budget numbers also showed how quickly the gap between spending and revenue is growing.

The Treasury Department recorded a $432.3 billion deficit in July, the biggest monthly shortfall since March 2021. So far this year, the deficit is closing in on $1.8 trillion, putting it above where it stood during the same period last year.

For comparison, total US government debt was about $19.4 trillion a decade ago, meaning the figure has more than doubled over the past 10 years.

The country’s worsening fiscal position has also been showing up in financial markets. Those pressures likely played a role in the Treasury Department’s decision on Wednesday to increase the amount of longer-dated government debt it plans to repurchase.

The expanded buyback operation focuses on securities at the long end of the yield curve, and Treasury yields moved lower following the announcement.

At the same time, Bitcoin kept climbing Wednesday night. The largest cryptocurrency was up roughly 7% and moved above $69,000, extending the rally that began earlier in the session.

Crypto-linked stocks also moved higher after regular trading ended. Coinbase shares were last up around 3% in extended trading, while Robinhood gained more than 2%.

Bitcoin ripped higher on Coinbase, jumping more than 8% and reaching its strongest level since April. The move caught bearish traders on the wrong side of the market, with roughly $1.2 billion worth of short positions liquidated in just 60 minutes.

Coinglass data showed BTC at $68,568.40, up 5.98%, with its funding rate at 0.0041%. Bitcoin derivatives volume stood at $80.27 billion, up 69.09%, while the asset’s market value was around $1.37 trillion.

Another tracked volume figure came in at $51.98 billion, with changes of +1.17% and +5.00% across the other listed measures. Bitcoin-related liquidations on the platform totaled $893.01 million.

The rally spread across the rest of crypto. Ether climbed 9.08% to $2,087.17, with a 0.0070% funding rate, $52.39 billion in derivatives volume and a 113.66% jump in that activity.

Its market cap was $251.62 billion, another volume measure stood at $28.22 billion, and Coinglass showed changes of +0.97% and +7.29%, alongside $469.45 million in liquidations. Solana rose 6.13% to $81.82, while XRP gained 6.65% to $1.0676.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE traded at $61.897, up 4.40%, while gold-linked XAU rose 2.90% to $4,502.25. Dogecoin added 3.47% to $0.07268, Zcash jumped 7.95% to $551.06, and BNB gained 2.36% to $617.73. SNDK moved the other way, falling 2.95% to $1,596.90.

Funding rates stood at 0.0035% for SOL, 0.0083% for XRP, 0.0081% for HYPE, -0.0015% for XAU, 0.0097% for DOGE, 0.0025% for SNDK, 0.0126% for ZEC and 0.0044% for BNB.

Coinglass also showed liquidations of $45.07 million for SOL, $8.19 million for XRP, $5.42 million for HYPE, $15.82 million for XAU, $3.54 million for DOGE, $31.15 million for SNDK, $8.37 million for ZEC and $4.27 million for BNB.

Iran has considered attacking US military targets in Europe if President Donald Trump escalates the war, according to two people close to the regime.

According to the Financial Times, Iranian forces have assessed possible strikes on US assets in southeastern Europe, including Bulgaria, which last month approved the use of its Bezmer air base for American refueling aircraft.

Cyprus is also being looked at as a possible target after a British air base there was hit by a drone in March. In addition to all that, Iran has separately examined the possibility of attacking subsea fiber-optic cables in the Strait of Hormuz if the conflict gets worse.

Talks over reopening the Strait of Hormuz have stalled. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei also promoted hardliners to senior security and military positions last week. Trump said Tuesday that there were “no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled” with Tehran.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian military commanders have warned that another full-scale conflict would push Iran beyond its earlier strategy of targeting US military positions, energy facilities and other infrastructure in the Middle East.

The Guards threatened the UK last month over Washington’s use of British military bases, saying that “any base that is used to launch an attack on Iranian territory will be considered a legitimate target”.

Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at London’s Royal United Services Institute, said the missile threat Iran poses to targets in Europe and elsewhere is “real, but limited”. Tehran could use medium-range ballistic missiles, including its Shahab series, against US assets in southern and southeastern Europe, although Sidharth said the missiles would have difficulty causing significant damage at longer distances.

How far Iran goes would depend on what Washington does next. One regime insider said Tehran is preparing plans to widen the conflict if Trump follows through on earlier threats to hit Iranian infrastructure. Trump said last month that the US would destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant every time Iran targeted a ship in the strait.

Another insider said Iran would put “no limits” on its response if the US attacked. “Should the US go too far, Iran will defend itself at any price, go beyond the region and hit Europe too,” the person said.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin is showing another sign that some large investors may be positioning for a bottom after months of weak trading.

The slump from hell has pushed retail traders out of the market, drained billions of dollars from crypto funds and even turned one of Bitcoin’s biggest buyers into a seller. Now, whales are buying again.

Large holders have accumulated about 43,000 Bitcoin over the past 60 days, worth around $2.75 billion at current prices, according to CryptoQuant. Its calculation excludes exchanges and mining pools.

The group began buying again after months of selling when Bitcoin started trading around $60,000, while balances held by smaller large investors known as dolphins have also increased.

Glassnode data shows the buying extends across several large-holder groups. Investors holding between 100 and 1,000 Bitcoin have been accumulating, while so-called humpbacks, holders with more than 10,000 coins, have also been buying.