Bitcoin Price Hits $81K on Renewed Spot Demand, Leverage Reset

CFTC Draft Rules Spark Rally Beyond $81,000

Bitcoin’s price breezed past $81,000 Friday amid reports that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sent crypto market rules to the White House for review. The cryptocurrency’s sudden spike ends a volatile week in which it fell below $75,000 for the first time since August, after the U.S. Senate failed to pass the CLARITY Act.

Before the surge, bitcoin appeared set to trade between $76,000 and $77,000, a range it had reclaimed Thursday. An hour before midnight, however, it began climbing, breaching $77,000 before tapering off at $78,350 around 5:10 a.m. Eastern time. The price briefly held above $78,000 until a sudden rally pushed it to $81,238, an intraday peak and its highest level since Sept. 4.

At press time (12:41 p.m. EST), bitcoin’s price had retreated to trade above $80,800, translating to more than a 5% gain in 24 hours. The jump also lifted its market capitalization to $1.62 trillion, up from $1.54 trillion.

As expected, the price surge hit short sellers hardest. According to Coinglass data, approximately $238 million in leveraged short positions were liquidated over 24 hours, compared with just $6 million in long positions. Across the broader cryptocurrency market, short liquidations surpassed $470 million, while long liquidations totaled just over $57 million.

While speculation about a potential Federal Reserve interest-rate hike initially weighed on bitcoin’s early-week momentum, the cryptocurrency’s trajectory was abruptly derailed Tuesday when the Senate failed to pass the landmark CLARITY Act. The legislative defeat dealt a swift blow to market confidence, triggering a sharp sell-off that eclipsed macro concerns. Consequently, by the time the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) formally announced its 25-basis-point rate hike, the bearish sentiment was already baked in, leaving bitcoin struggling to clear technical resistance above the $76,000 threshold.

Regulators Pivot to Executive Oversight

As crypto market observers anticipated following the failed vote, the CFTC quickly moved to reassure investors, signaling plans to assert its authority under existing statutory frameworks. The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to pursue a parallel administrative route—a strategic pivot by the Trump administration to execute its regulatory roadmap through executive agency action rather than waiting on a stalled Congress.

Meanwhile, bitcoin’s return above $80,000 has energized the crypto community and experts, some of whom see it as more than a bounce. Lacie Zhang, a research analyst at Bitget Wallet, said the move looks stronger than a typical sentiment bounce because of prior market conditions.

“Bitcoin is benefiting from a broader risk-on move as oil and long-term Treasury yields ease, while roughly $154 million of daily U.S. spot ETF inflows and short covering helped push it through the psychologically important $80,000 level,” Zhang said.

The Bitget analyst also suggested that the move looks stronger because leverage had already been flushed out earlier in the month, leaving the market more responsive to renewed spot demand.