Bitcoin Above $71,000, Ethereum Tops $2,200 as Liquidations Soar
Bitcoin extended its breakout above $71,000 on August 20, while Ethereum held above $2,270 as a macro-driven rally evolved into one of the most aggressive derivatives resets of 2026.
Summary:
- Bitcoin has moved above its short-term holder cost basis, putting a key on-chain threshold back under buyer control.
- Ethereum is leading the large-cap rally while its upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade adds a separate fundamental catalyst.
- Crypto liquidations have climbed to $3.26 billion as leveraged traders are forced out during the rapid repricing.
- Despite double-digit gains across major altcoins, the Altcoin Season Index remains firmly tilted toward Bitcoin.
Coinglass data showed the crypto market reaching $2.41 trillion, up 9.91% over 24 hours, while total liquidations climbed to $3.36 billion. The move began after the U.S. Treasury expanded long-dated bond buybacks and yields fell, but the scale of the subsequent advance increasingly reflects forced short covering, renewed spot demand and a rapid rotation into higher-beta assets.
Bitcoin has cleared the level recent buyers needed back
The important change for Bitcoin is not simply that it crossed $70,000.
At the time of writing BTC trades at $71,431 in the latest market snapshot, gaining 10.86% over 24 hours and 12.03% over seven days. More significantly, the rebound has carried price above the short-term holder cost basis around $68,500, the approximate average acquisition level of recent buyers.
That level had previously acted as overhead pressure because holders who bought near it could use recoveries to exit at break-even.
Once price moves decisively above their aggregate cost basis, the dynamic changes. Recent holders are no longer uniformly underwater, reducing one source of automatic selling.
Glassnode-derived analysis still identifies a higher hurdle around the True Market Mean near $75,800. The Realized Profit/Loss Ratio also remains around 0.75, below the 2.0 level associated with a more convincing regime shift. In other words, Bitcoin has repaired an important part of its market structure without yet producing full on-chain confirmation of a broader trend reversal.
That is a more useful distinction than describing the entire move as either bullish or temporary.
$3.26 billion in liquidations explains why the move became vertical
Bitcoin spent much of early August moving between roughly $62,500 and $65,000. The change after August 19 was abrupt.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that liquidity-support buybacks for 10- to 30-year U.S. government bonds would rise from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation between September 9 and November 4. The announcement pushed the 30-year yield lower from levels that had reached 5.34%, while the dollar weakened and risk assets rallied.
That provided the initial demand shock. Derivatives then amplified it.
The sequence matters. Treasury policy lowered yields, spot prices began moving, leveraged shorts crossed liquidation thresholds, and forced position closures generated additional buying. The final stage can produce much larger percentage moves than the original macro catalyst alone would justify.
Bitcoin momentum is powerful, but the four-hour chart is stretched
The four-hour BTC chart shows the consequences clearly.
Bitcoin broke from below $65,000 through $68,000 and $70,000 in a small number of candles, reaching an intraday high near $71,614. The MACD remains strongly positive, with the MACD line at 1,679.50 against a signal line near 1,017.83 and an expanding positive histogram.
Momentum is therefore still accelerating rather than weakening.
The warning comes from the RSI, which has climbed to 88.41. Such an elevated reading does not require an immediate reversal, particularly during a short squeeze, but it indicates that price has moved much faster than its recent trading range would normally support.
The first technical question is now whether $70,000 can turn from breakout resistance into support. A deeper retracement would bring the roughly $68,500 short-term holder cost basis back into focus. Holding that area would preserve much of the structural improvement even if the vertical phase of the rally cools.
Above current prices, the on-chain $75,800 region becomes more meaningful than another round-number target because reclaiming it would push Bitcoin through a broader cost-basis benchmark, not simply another psychological level.
Ethereum’s squeeze has been even more aggressive
Ethereum’s price action has been more extreme.
ETH surged from around $1,900 to above $2,200 in a matter of hours and traded near $2,271 in the latest snapshot. Its 18.07% daily gain is almost twice Bitcoin’s, while 24-hour volume reached $36.34 billion.
The four-hour chart reflects that imbalance. Ethereum’s RSI has reached an exceptional 92.77, while MACD has widened sharply into positive territory. Price briefly wicked above $2,300 before settling around $2,270.
This is strong momentum, but not a normal rate of appreciation.
The first meaningful area below the market sits near $2,200-$2,225, where the breakout began consolidating after its largest candle.
Below that, $2,100 becomes more important because losing it would retrace a substantial part of the liquidation-driven expansion. On the upside, the wick around $2,330 is the immediate level buyers have yet to convert into accepted trading territory.
Ethereum therefore needs consolidation more than another vertical candle. Holding most of the breakout while RSI normalizes would create a healthier technical structure than extending an already extreme momentum reading.
Glamsterdam gives ETH a catalyst Bitcoin does not share
Not all of Ethereum’s relative strength needs to be interpreted through liquidations.
The network is approaching Glamsterdam, its next major protocol upgrade, targeted for the second half of 2026. Ethereum’s official roadmap lists enshrined proposer-builder separation and block-level access lists as its headline features. Together, they are designed to improve block construction, parallel execution and Layer 1 scaling while reducing dependence on external block-building infrastructure.
READ MORE: Trump Opens Door to More Bitcoin as Hyperliquid Surges on US Hopes
Ethereum.org says the changes are intended to help move the Layer 1 gas limit from roughly 60 million toward approximately 200 million over time.
No mainnet activation date has yet been finalized, so Glamsterdam should not be presented as the immediate trigger for the 18% price surge. The official roadmap still lists it for H2 2026.
Its relevance is different. Once the derivatives squeeze fades, Ethereum has a network-specific event capable of sustaining attention independently of Bitcoin’s macro trade.
Altcoins are outperforming without an altcoin-season signal
The breadth of the rally has widened considerably, yet one market indicator remains surprisingly restrained.
CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season Index stands at only 36 out of 100, down from the previous snapshot despite double-digit gains in
ETH, XRP, SOL and HYPE. Fear & Greed has risen to 59, still classified as neutral.
That disconnect says something useful about the market structure.
Large altcoins are outperforming Bitcoin over the immediate 24-hour window, but the longer measurement period used by the Altcoin
Season Index still favors BTC. A few explosive sessions have not yet produced the broad and sustained relative performance required for an altcoin-season classification.
The CMC20 Index is up 11.60% over 24 hours and 12.56% over seven days, another sign that the rally has spread beyond Bitcoin.
Whether that continues after forced liquidations subside will be more informative than Thursday’s headline percentages.
The next test is no longer whether Bitcoin can break $70,000
That question has already been answered.
The harder test is whether the market can retain the new price structure after the mechanical demand from liquidations disappears.
Bitcoin holding above its short-term holder cost basis would suggest recent buyers have moved from an underwater cohort into support. Ethereum maintaining the $2,200 region while its RSI cools would indicate that its relative strength is surviving beyond the squeeze. A continued rise in altcoin relative performance would finally begin moving the Altcoin Season Index away from its current Bitcoin-heavy reading.
Macro conditions remain part of the equation. Reuters noted that the Treasury buybacks are small relative to the $32.2 trillion Treasury market and are primarily intended to support liquidity rather than represent a monetary-policy intervention.
That distinction matters now that prices have moved so far. The original catalyst can stabilize bond-market liquidity, but crypto must increasingly find its own demand to defend a $71,000 Bitcoin and a $2,270 Ethereum after $3.26 billion of leveraged positions have already been cleared.
The information presented in this article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or trading advice. Coinspress.com does not promote or advocate for any particular investment strategy, asset, or cryptocurrency project. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and unpredictable – always perform your own research and seek guidance from a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Alexander Zdravkov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alexander Zdravkov is a market analyst and crypto journalist with interests in economics, broader financial markets and digital assets. His journey into crypto began more than four years ago, driven by a fascination with the rapid evolution of blockchain technology and the transformative potential of decentralized finance. He began analyzing market cycles and identifying emerging trends before they reach the mainstream. He holds a degree in International Relations - a background that helped shape his broader perspective on global economics, geopolitics, and the interconnected nature of modern financial markets. Whether covering the latest developments in the crypto sector or exploring broader macroeconomic themes, Alexander focuses on giving readers context rather than simply repeating headlines. During his career, he has authored more than 10,000 articles covering cryptocurrencies, traditional finance, and global market developments. His work spans everything from Bitcoin and altcoins to macroeconomic trends influencing risk assets worldwide.
