Arthur Hayes Says ‘Back Up The Truck And Buy Crypto’ As Bessent's Treasury Buybacks Could Boost Dollar Liquidity

Bitcoin may have found another catalyst in an unlikely place: the U.S. Treasury market. Arthur Hayes says a fresh wave of U.S. Treasury liquidity could be a major catalyst for crypto, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s expanded bond buybacks could increase dollar liquidity and ultimately funnel more money into risk assets, including crypto.

Hayes urged investors to “back up the truck and buy crypto with both hands”. Maelstrom chief investment officer and BitMEX co-founder argued in his Substack essay on Monday that Treasury interventions in the bond market can function as a form of “money printing” by increasing the liquidity available to financial markets.

Why Hayes Sees Treasury Moves As ‘Money Printing’ Machines

Hayes said that Bitcoin had bounced off lows after Bessent’s intervention in the dollar-yen market and an increase in Treasury buyback notional.

According to Hayes, U.S. Treasury debt is incompletely risk-free because a debt ceiling standoff can raise questions about whether bondholders will get paid on time. “While, in theory, lending to the U.S. government is risk-free in dollar terms because the Government can print money, operationally settling debts requires congressional approval,” Hayes wrote. He also argued that Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen effectively used the Federal Reserve's reserve repo facility to inject liquidity into markets without an overt expansion of the Fed's balance sheet.