Bitcoin price hits $69,500 because US just doubled Treasury buybacks to crush long-term yields

Bitcoin and Ethereum surged above $69,500 and $2,000 on Wednesday after the US Treasury doubled planned buybacks of long-dated government debt.

On Aug. 19, the Treasury Department said it will raise the maximum size of its liquidity-support operations for 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year securities from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The change starts Sept. 9 and runs through Nov. 4.

The announcement brought immediate relief to a bond market battered by rising borrowing costs. The 30-year Treasury yield fell to about 5.19% from Tuesday’s 5.34% peak, its highest since 2007, while the 10-year yield dropped to 4.647%. The gap between 2- and 30-year yields also narrowed sharply.

Data from CryptoSlate shows Bitcoin climbed from an intraday low near $64,100 to over $69,000, before retracing to around $68,000, as yields retreated and risk assets rallied. Ethereum rose as high as $2,100, breaking above $2,000 for the first time since June.

The sharp rebound punished traders positioned for further declines.

CoinGlass data showed more than $1.2 billion in crypto positions were liquidated within one hour, with Bitcoin and Ethereum accounting for most of the losses. Short traders betting against the rally lost about $1.29 billion during the period.