Bitcoin climbed 7.9% over the past 24 hours to around $77,137, after reaching an intraday high of $79,320.

The move triggered a short squeeze, with CoinGlass recording about $1.5 billion in total crypto liquidations across 178,777 traders over the last 24 hours. Roughly $1.21 billion of that total came from short positions.

The rally comes after a week of bullish developments in Washington, including President Donald Trump’s support for the Clarity Act and his indication that regulators are working to bring Hyperliquid onshore.

Bitcoin extended its rally on Friday, punishing traders who had bet against the largest cryptocurrency and erasing more than $1 billion in bearish positions.

According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin was changing hands at around $77,137, up 7.9% over the previous 24 hours, after touching an intraday high of $79,320. The latest move capped a strong week that left Bitcoin up 23.2% over seven days, even though it remained down roughly 31.8% from a year earlier. The contrast between the weekly gain and the yearly decline underscores how steep the drawdown that preceded this rebound had been.

The surge pressured leveraged short sellers. CoinGlass data showed approximately $1.5 billion in total crypto liquidations over the past 24 hours across 178,777 traders, with short positions accounting for about $1.21 billion of that amount. Liquidations occur when exchanges forcibly close leveraged positions once price moves erode a trader’s posted margin.

Bitcoin alone accounted for about $17.25 million in liquidations on the one-hour heatmap, while the largest single liquidation over the past day was a $23.59 million BTC position on Hyperliquid. The move was a classic short squeeze, in which rising prices force bearish traders to buy back positions, adding more fuel to the rally.

The rebound follows a difficult stretch for the market. Bitcoin had surged toward a recent high earlier this week in a run that wiped out about $3 billion in shorts, and analysts have been divided over whether the momentum can continue.

The rally has also coincided with a series of favorable developments in Washington. At a White House gathering this week, Trump backed the crypto market-structure Clarity Act — legislation that would divide oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — and said regulators were working to bring offshore perpetual-futures exchange Hyperliquid onshore, comments that helped lift sentiment across the market. The crypto industry has spent years pressing for exactly that kind of framework, arguing that uncertainty over which agency governs which assets has pushed trading activity toward offshore platforms.

Bitcoin was not the only major token moving higher. Ethereum, Solana and other leading cryptocurrencies also advanced. Bitcoin’s market capitalization stood near $1.55 trillion, and its 24-hour trading volume was above $69 billion.