Bitcoin Price Storms Past $81K as Treasury Bond Buyback Rumors Fuel Rally

Bitcoin's price surged past $81,000 on August 24 as market momentum continued to build. This move lifted its market capitalization to nearly $1.62 trillion and narrowed its year-to-date losses to 8%. The cryptocurrency's short liquidations reached $282 million over the course of 24 hours, accounting for approximately 62% of all crypto short liquidations.

The price surge was fueled by rumors of U.S. Treasury bond buybacks, which triggered a broader market rally. This move wiped out $177 million in short bets in just four hours, compared to only $4.5 million in long bets, according to Coinglass data.

Investor Stanley F. Druckenmiller warned that attempting to manipulate bond prices is a fundamental policy error. He stated that official intervention should only be justified during severe market dysfunctions and not during normal price discovery driven by high inflation and persistent deficit spending.