Bitcoin climbed above $75,000 on Thursday evening U.S. time, reaching its highest level since late May. The token hit an intraday peak of $75,591 before easing to around $75,400, marking an increase of about 8% over 24 hours.

The move leaves Bitcoin on track for its strongest weekly performance in more than two years. BTC is up 19% for the week, its best weekly gain since February 2024.

Crypto analyst James Check, lead analyst at on-chain data firm Glassnode, pointed to a shift in market behavior as Bitcoin moved through $75,000. “Price pain capitulation in February,” he wrote. “Time pain capitulation in June. Bears in pain, right now.” His post suggested that sellers may finally be losing momentum after months of downward pressure.

The broader crypto market also advanced. Ether rose 4.8% to about $2,376, while XRP led the major tokens with a 16% gain to $1.29. On a weekly basis, Ether is up 25% and XRP is up 28%.

Trump’s Clarity Act push

One factor behind the rally was President Donald Trump’s call for Congress to pass the Clarity Act during a White House crypto summit earlier this week. The legislation is intended to create a clearer regulatory framework for the U.S. crypto industry.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 President Trump says "We need Congress to take the next step by passing The Clarity Act."

"And this landmark structure legislation is very, very powerful structure which will keep us ahead of China, keep us ahead of everyone else." pic.twitter.com/0BwWWQcySP — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 19, 2026

The Clarity Act, formally the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, would divide oversight of digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, with the CFTC taking primary authority over digital commodity spot markets. The bill has stalled in Congress amid disagreements over how cryptocurrencies should be classified and how yields on stablecoins should be treated. No timetable for passage has been confirmed.

Treasury buybacks support risk assets

The U.S. Treasury Department also contributed to the improved tone in markets by saying it would at least double its bond buyback operations. Starting September 9, the maximum per operation will rise from $2 billion to at least $4 billion.

The Treasury said the move is designed to improve liquidity in the long-term bond market. The department has conducted regular buyback operations since 2024, when it introduced them as a liquidity-management tool for long-dated securities. The announcement helped push yields lower and lifted risk appetite across financial assets. Bitcoin has gained more than 13% since the Treasury made the announcement on Wednesday.

Crypto trader Daan Crypto Trades wrote on X that BTC was “trying to move above the bull market support band and weekly 200EMA.” He added: “Above the green zone I would be confident that we see a move back to the May highs too. But let’s take it step by step.”

$BTC Trying to move above the bull market support band and weekly 200EMA in this weekly candle. All very important levels, just like the $73K-$74K horizontal. Above the green zone I would be confident that we see a move back to the May highs too. But let's take it step by step… pic.twitter.com/YyJALFdS8A — Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) August 20, 2026

Bitcoin also moved above its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2025, roughly a month after BTC reached an all-time high above $126,000. The 200-day moving average is widely followed by traders as a gauge of the market’s long-term trend direction. Charting platform Barchart highlighted the development on Thursday.

JUST IN 🚨: Bitcoin $BTC gets above 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2025 📈 🤑 🥳 pic.twitter.com/vAhNTT2wfc — Barchart (@Barchart) August 20, 2026

Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick, who heads the bank’s digital assets research, said the Treasury’s expanded buyback plan could support a Bitcoin move toward $100,000 by year-end.

BTC was trading around $75,400 at the time of writing, after breaking out of the $60,000 to $70,000 range that had held for most of 2026. The next scheduled policy markers for markets are the September 9 start of the expanded buyback operations and any further movement on the Clarity Act in Congress.