Bitcoin climbed roughly 25% this week, rising above $78,000 and touching a high of $79,500 after a U.S. Treasury policy adjustment helped ease pressure on long-dated government bond yields.

The Treasury said it would double the size of its buyback operations for longer-dated government bonds, increasing purchases to $4 billion per operation from $2 billion. The move pushed the 30-year Treasury yield down from 5.34% to around 5.19% after it had reached 19-year highs. The Treasury’s regular buyback program, introduced in 2024, is designed to support liquidity in older, less-traded government bonds. Because long-dated Treasury yields serve as a benchmark for borrowing costs across the economy, sustained moves in the 30-year bond often ripple into risk assets such as equities and crypto.

BREAKING: US Treasury Secretary Bessent says Treasury buybacks announced yesterday could now MORE than double, exceeding $4 billion per operation. Bessent said buybacks will increase “by at least double,” adding, “we have a big toolkit, so we’ll see.” This comes just hours… — The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 20, 2026

BREAKING: US Treasury Secretary Bessent says Treasury buybacks announced yesterday could now MORE than double, exceeding $4 billion per operation.

Bessent said buybacks will increase “by at least double,” adding, “we have a big toolkit, so we’ll see.”

This comes just hours…

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 20, 2026

The rally also forced a wave of bearish traders out of their positions. Roughly $4 billion in short crypto bets were liquidated on Thursday and Friday alone as prices accelerated higher. Liquidations occur when exchanges forcibly close leveraged positions that no longer meet margin requirements, and closing out shorts requires buying back coins, which can further amplify an upward move.

Analysts said the move was not driven solely by improving macro conditions. Shawn Young, chief analyst at MEXC Research, said, “The Treasury opened a pressure valve, and crypto priced it like a regime change.” He added that Bitcoin’s push to $70,000 looks premature given that Treasuries are still yielding close to 5%.

Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, described the buyback announcement as “a signal, a soft policy put on the long end,” rather than a true shift in financial conditions. He said the move is not quantitative easing.

ETF inflows rebound strongly

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which won regulatory approval in January 2024 and let investors gain Bitcoin exposure through ordinary brokerage accounts, brought in $1.6 billion in net inflows this week. BlackRock’s IBIT, the largest of the spot Bitcoin funds, accounted for $503 million of that total on Thursday alone. Combined ETF assets climbed above $85 billion, up from around $70 billion in June.

ETFs bought $1,920,000,000 in $BTC this week. Biggest weekly inflow since October 2025. pic.twitter.com/c8rbuSmsRF — Ted (@TedPillows) August 22, 2026

ETFs bought $1,920,000,000 in $BTC this week.

Biggest weekly inflow since October 2025. pic.twitter.com/c8rbuSmsRF

— Ted (@TedPillows) August 22, 2026

Analyst Ted Pillows wrote on X that ETFs bought $1.92 billion in BTC this week, marking the biggest weekly inflow since October 2025. He said Bitcoin has broken above every major resistance level and is now approaching the $78,000 to $80,000 zone, which he described as a key area to watch. In his view, a sustained move above that range would confirm the end of the bear market.

$BTC weekly candle is just insane. Breaking above every resistance level like it's nothing. Now, Bitcoin is moving towards its $78,000-$80,000 resistance zone. A reclaim of this will confirm the end of this bear market. pic.twitter.com/lxvivlLMkb — Ted (@TedPillows) August 21, 2026

$BTC weekly candle is just insane.

Breaking above every resistance level like it's nothing.

Now, Bitcoin is moving towards its $78,000-$80,000 resistance zone.

A reclaim of this will confirm the end of this bear market. pic.twitter.com/lxvivlLMkb

— Ted (@TedPillows) August 21, 2026

Research firm Bernstein linked the rebound to improving liquidity, stronger ETF demand and a more supportive regulatory backdrop. The firm said analysts expect faster SEC and CFTC rulemaking on areas including tokenized equities and prediction markets.

Strategy returns to profit

Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin and formerly known as MicroStrategy, holds 840,447 BTC purchased at an average price of $75,385. With Bitcoin trading near $78,000, the company’s holdings now show an unrealized gain of more than $2 billion.

The company recently sold about 0.8% of its holdings to support dividends and buybacks of its STRC preferred stock. Bernstein expects Strategy to resume buying as STRC moves back toward its $100 nominal value.

Ko said Bitcoin’s 200-day moving average near $69,000, a widely watched gauge of the longer-term trend, remains a key technical level. He noted that Bitcoin has now moved above that level and will need to hold it while government bonds continue to yield close to 5%.