Bitcoin Surges Past $78,000 as Treasury Buybacks Spark Record Short Squeeze
Bitcoin (BTC) surged over 25% to nearly $80,000 after a U.S. Treasury policy tweak helped pull long-term bond yields off 19-year highs.
The Treasury announced it would double its buyback operations for longer-dated government bonds, raising purchases to $4 billion per operation from $2 billion. This move triggered a wave of forced buying as bearish traders were squeezed out of their positions, with around $4 billion in short crypto bets liquidated on Thursday and Friday alone.
Analysts say the rally was partly driven by a record short squeeze, not just improved macro conditions. Shawn Young from MEXC Research described it as 'the Treasury opening a pressure valve' and crypto pricing it like a regime change.
The surge in Bitcoin's price also led to a rebound in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which added $1.6 billion in net inflows this week. BlackRock alone added $503 million to its IBIT fund on Thursday.