Bessent's buybacks kick bitcoin price usd into overdrive
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's plan to double longer-dated U.S. bond buybacks ignited a hard-asset scramble this week, pushing bitcoin price usd near $77,300 after a roughly 23% surge as gold climbed and the dollar slipped—even as long yields largely clawed back their first-day drop.
Bitcoin blew through a months-long range below $67,000 while the S&P 500 lost ground, gold jumped about 5%, and the dollar fell. The move, covered across Fintech & Crypto Alerts, turned a Treasury liquidity tweak into a full-blown debasement-trade narrative.
Key Takeaways
- Bessent's Aug. 19 buyback expansion—lifting longer-dated operations to at least $4 billion from Sept. 9—was the main catalyst for bitcoin's surge.
- Bitcoin price usd held near $77,300 Monday after about a 22%–23% weekly gain; gold also rose as the dollar weakened.
- The 30-year yield fell 9 basis points on the announcement day, then mostly reversed by Friday, while bitcoin and gold kept climbing.
- Analysts framed the rally as a dollar-debasement hedge, with spot buying and short covering amplifying the move.
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs drew about $1.92 billion last week, the strongest inflow since mid-October.
What did Scott Bessent announce that moved markets?
On Aug. 19, the Treasury said it would double the size of liquidity-support buybacks for longer-term Treasurys beginning Sept. 9, covering the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year sectors. The aim was "greater liquidity support" after long yields had climbed to multi-year highs.
That same day, President Donald Trump met crypto-industry leaders at the White House, and markets also tracked optimism around the proposed Clarity Act. Per CoinDesk, a roughly $3 billion short squeeze helped fuel last week's breakout past $69,000.
Why did the bitcoin price usd rally look like a debasement trade?
Investors read larger long-end buybacks as a signal that Washington may prioritize capping borrowing costs even if that eases financial conditions. Stephen Coltman of 21Shares called the announcement a "shock" that reignited the dollar debasement trade—buying gold, silver, and bitcoin when deficits and inflation threaten the greenback's purchasing power.
Yahoo Finance's Chart of the Day noted Wednesday's 30-year yield drop of 9 basis points coincided with a 7% bitcoin jump and a 4% gold rally. By Friday, yields had clawed back almost that entire move, yet bitcoin had surged more than 10% further and gold added about 2%. Coinage founder Zack Guzman said bitcoin has "established itself as a bit of a debasement trade," adding the explosion was "mostly spot driven," not leverage-led.
Historically, big bitcoin weeks with falling stocks, rising gold, and a weaker dollar usually came with falling 30-year yields. This week's roughly 23% gain did not—and it shattered prior records for similar mixed-macro weeks.
Where does bitcoin stand after the weekly surge?
Bitcoin traded near $77,300 on Monday, holding the weekly advance while high-flying alts such as XRP and Zcash cooled. Next technical resistance sits near $81,033, the 50-week moving average, with the May high around $82,814 above that.
Institutional demand returned: U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.92 billion last week. Still, the 10-year yield was back near 4.737% and the 30-year near 5.276% by Friday—around pre-announcement levels—while U.S. debt crossed $40 trillion and annual interest costs topped $1 trillion. That gap between sticky yields and soaring hard assets is exactly why traders keep watching the debasement trade.