Why is crypto rising today? The global crypto market capitalisation rose 6% to around $2.35 trillion on Wednesday as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Binance Coin rallied. Julius Alagbe, a senior financial journalist and Editor at MarketForces Africa, reported the move.
Bitcoin gained 6% in the last 24 hours, Ethereum rose 11%, and Binance Coin added 4%. Traders tied the rally to a White House crypto summit and to lower US Treasury yields, which helped lift demand across the market.
Donald Trump and CLARITY Act
On August 19, Donald Trump urged Congress at a White House meeting to pass a “fair version” of the CLARITY Act. He also said the US is considering buying “sizable” amounts of Bitcoin and other crypto, a signal traders read as a shift toward direct support for the market.
The White House meeting also helped remove a layer of regulatory uncertainty. That mattered for a market already leaning higher, because fewer questions about policy can leave more room for buying in the largest tokens.
White House crypto summit rally
Traders described the advance as a market-wide rally sparked by the White House crypto summit and turbocharged by a classic short squeeze. That combination helped turn policy optimism into a faster move in prices, especially in Bitcoin and Ethereum, where short positioning can add fuel when prices rise quickly.
Julius Alagbe’s report also said bargain hunting in top cryptocurrencies played a part. XRP was described as oversold, which fits the same pattern: traders were looking for spots where selling had gone too far and price could rebound on limited fresh buying.
The Treasury buyback plan
On Wednesday, the US Treasury said it will at least double the maximum size of its liquidity support buyback operations for long-term nominal coupon securities, raising the cap from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation. The expansion targets the 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year maturity buckets and is set to take effect in September 2026, lasting through the November refinancing quarter.
For crypto traders, the practical read is straightforward: the rally has both a policy story and a market-structure story, but the Treasury change is a future support step, not an immediate crypto decision. The sharper question now is how much of Wednesday’s move came from fresh buying versus forced covering in a short squeeze.
