Bitcoin climbed past $72,000 on Thursday, its highest level since early June, after President Trump pressed crypto executives at a White House meeting to back the Clarity Act and suggested the U.S. might build a bitcoin position. The token was trading at $71,758 at 8 a.m. New York time, up nearly 12% in 24 hours, after touching a high of $72,344.
Inside the White House meeting
Trump met with a group that included the CEOs of Kraken and Coinbase, urging them to push the Clarity Act through Congress. He argued the legislation would keep the U.S. ahead of China in digital assets, and hinted the government could be open to accumulating bitcoin — saying the asset has been good for the dollar.
It's a notable shift in tone from a White House that has spent much of the year focused on other fights. Whether the accumulation hint becomes policy is another question, but the market took it as a green light on Thursday.
The Clarity Act's timeline slips
The bill would set a federal framework for sorting digital assets into securities, commodities, or payment stablecoins — a distinction the industry has lobbied for years to get clarified. A vote that was originally hoped for in August has now been pushed to September.
That delay means the market is still waiting on the bill's fate. The meeting was part of Trump's push to get it over the line, but the calendar keeps moving.
Treasury's debt repurchase expansion
Adding to the risk-on mood, the Treasury Department announced it would more than double government debt repurchases. That move lowered long-term yields, a backdrop that tends to support assets like bitcoin. The two developments together — the White House meeting and the Treasury news — gave traders a rare day of clean upside.
A rough year so far
Thursday's jump is a sharp reversal from a grim stretch. Bitcoin spent most of July and August under $65,000, and 2026 has been weighed down by geopolitical headwinds, the U.S.-Iran war, rising oil prices, and a Federal Reserve reluctant to cut rates. The price is still far from its all-time high of $126,080.
The Clarity Act vote now sits on the September calendar. Whether Trump's push holds, and whether he follows through on the bitcoin accumulation talk, will likely decide if this rally has legs.
