Top 3 Reasons Why Crypto Prices Are Up Right Now

Bitcoin is holding just above $80,000 after climbing from the low $60,000s earlier this month. That is a gain of about 23% in August, putting it on track for its best August since 2017, in a month whose median historical return is actually negative 7%. The total crypto market sits near $2.75 trillion.

Almost all of it comes down to three things. Notably, only one of them has anything to do with crypto itself.

Top 3 Reasons Why Crypto Prices Are Up

1. The Treasury pushed liquidity into the system

This is the trigger, and it is the one most people are underweighting.

The rally started when the US Treasury expanded its bond buyback operations, which pushed long-term yields and the dollar lower. Cheaper money and a weaker dollar send capital toward risk assets, and crypto sits at the far end of that curve. Adding to it are reports that the Treasury could draw on its cash account of nearly $1 trillion, which would put more money into financial markets still.

Samir Kerbage, CIO at Hashdex, described the move as mostly a liquidity event. That is the cleanest summary available. $Bitcoin did not rally because something changed about Bitcoin. It rallied because the cost of money changed.

Worth knowing: the Fed has held its benchmark rate at 3.50% to 3.75%, and three policymakers voted for a quarter-point increase in July. Traders currently price September rate-hike odds at roughly one in three. This is not a market with confirmed monetary support behind it.