- Trump’s pronouncements during a meeting at the White House with top executives from crypto, prediction markets, AI, and other sectors in emerging markets sent Bitcoin and altcoins rallying and liquidated $3 billion in crypto positions, with shorts accounting for $2.74 billion.
US President Donald Trump made a major statement on Wednesday during a meeting at the White House attended by bigwigs in the cryptocurrency sector. The pronouncements of America’s head honcho in a press conference following the event sent ripples across the market, wiping out nearly $3 billion in positions over the last 24 hours.
$2.74 Billion Shorts in Crypto Wrecked
Shorts took the brunt of the meeting’s aftermath, accounting for $2.74 billion, according to Coinglass early Thursday morning (UTC). Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) shorts took a lion’s share of the wipe-outs at approximately $1.37 billion and $1.02 billion, respectively.
On-chain data shows that the ensuing volatility wrecked over 171,722 traders during the period. The largest recorded single liquidation order came from the Hyperliquid (HYPE) decentralized exchange (DEX) at $48.8 million from a BTC-USD trading pair.
Trump Rallies Support for CLARITY Act
Trump’s primary agenda focused on consolidating support for the pending Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act in Congress, which is due for a cloture vote in mid-September. He highlighted that the bill is vital to ensuring the USA’s edge in emerging technologies, including digital assets, prediction markets, and artificial intelligence (AI).
The president claimed that the US is at the “very beginning of a revolution” in finance. He believes boosting or at least maintaining its momentum has “potential to create more jobs, opportunity, and wealth for all Americans.” Additionally, Trump emphasized that the CLARITY Act is a “very powerful structured legislation” that will keep the US “ahead of China and everyone else.”
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig also attended the event. Both stated they will pursue measures to bring regulatory clarity to crypto, regardless of the CLARITY Act’s outcome. However, they reiterated that a law supporting digital assets remains preferable for long-term market certainty and to reinforce the USA’s goal of becoming the “crypto capital of the world.”
Top executives from Coinbase, Gemini, Ripple, Robinhood Markets, Payward, Chainlink (LINK), Paradigm, Kalshi, and the Digital Chamber, among others, attended the event.
US Considering Buying Bitcoin and Other Crypto Assets
What really sent the market rallying, with Bitcoin surging from roughly $64,100 to $70,000, was Trump’s revelation that he had been in talks, especially with regulators, about whether the US should buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
“But it’s certainly been talked about,” said Trump. “It’s taken a lot of pressure off the dollar.”
Furthermore, Trump confirmed that the CFTC is working toward bringing Hyperliquid to the US. The platform is currently a leader in perpetual DEXs by a huge margin, with its 24-hour volume alone surpassing $18.38 billion and open interest exceeding $12.12 billion, based on CoinGecko data today.
