Bitcoin Soars 20% in Week After Treasury Buyback Surprise

Bitcoin's price surged over 20% in just one week, its best performance since March 2024. This sudden turnaround is largely attributed to a surprise announcement by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who doubled the size of the department's long-duration bond buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation.

The policy change doesn't take effect until September 9 and runs through November 4, but its impact was felt immediately. Traders who had shorted Bitcoin, anticipating tighter conditions, were caught off guard by the shift in tone and liquidated around $3 billion in short positions over the following day.

The resulting buying spree pushed the price up, despite yields on long-bond rising again by Thursday morning. Economists are divided on whether this move changes anything structurally, but traders are taking note.