A wild day in crypto: Bitcoin surges as market forces take over

The cryptocurrency market recorded one of its strongest trading periods in recent months over the past few days. As of Thursday morning, Bitcoin was trading at around $69,700, a jump of about 8.5% in a single day, according to CoinMarketCap data. Overnight, it approached the $70,000 threshold, after trading near $64,000 on Wednesday.

However, the standout performer of the rally was Ether. The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency surged by approximately 17.5% and traded around $2,244, after climbing to a daily peak of about $2,328. Trading volume in ETH soared more than fourfold compared to recent daily averages. The broader market joined the rally as well: Solana rose about 11% to around $85, and XRP climbed more than 10% to around $1.10.

The primary catalyst originated from a market seemingly far removed from crypto. The US Department of the Treasury announced that starting in September, it will at least double the scope of its buybacks of long-term government bonds, increasing from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation.

The move followed a rise in the yield on 30-year US Treasury bonds to levels not seen since 2007. The announcement quickly drove yields down, weakened the US dollar, and boosted risk appetite across markets. Certain stocks and gold also reacted with gains.