Bitcoin Surges Past $68,000 as US Treasury Moves to More Than Double Debt Buybacks
Key Takeaways
- •Bitcoin rose nearly 3% in 24 hours and briefly touched $68,982 on Wednesday.
- •The U.S. Treasury said it will more than double the size of its government debt repurchases.
- •The Treasury move came amid pressure in fixed-income markets and yields near levels not seen in nearly 20 years.
- •Lower long-term yields supported Bitcoin alongside stocks while the U.S. dollar weakened.
- •Fidelity said Bitcoin’s volatility is now lower than 98.5% of all days in its 17-year history.
Bitcoin blew past $68,000 on Wednesday, jumping nearly 3% over a 24-hour period after the U.S. Treasury announced plans to more than double the size of its government debt repurchases.
The price of Bitcoin recently stood at $68,473 as of 10:30 a.m. in New York, after briefly touching $68,982 earlier in the session. The sharp jump came as yields dropped.
Over the past week, the biggest and oldest cryptocurrency has gained more than 3%. Bitcoin had traded roughly flat across the previous 30-day period, but the latest move has pushed it higher by close to 3% over that stretch.
The Treasury Department said Wednesday that it will more than double the size of its government debt repurchases, pointing to fixed income markets under pressure and yields surging to levels not seen in nearly 20 years. In a buyback operation, the Treasury repurchases outstanding older securities with cash, a tool used to shore up trading liquidity in the secondary market for U.S. government debt; the department revived regular buyback operations in 2024, its first since 2002.
"This increase in buyback operation sizes reflects Treasury's desire to provide greater liquidity support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants, as evidenced by the significant volume of high-quality offers Treasury routinely receives in longer-dated buyback operations," the department said in a statement.
Lower long-term yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as Bitcoin and gold, and generally support risk-on sentiment. Bitcoin behaved like a "risk-on" asset on the news, surging alongside stocks while the U.S. dollar fell sharply.
The leading cryptocurrency has been battered since notching a new all-time high of $126,080 in October, but it has still experienced the shallowest bear market — so far — in its history.
The coin's volatility also stands at record lows. 2025 was the least volatile year for the asset, and asset manager Fidelity — whose spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund ranks among the largest of its kind — said Wednesday that Bitcoin's volatility is now lower than 98.5% of all days in its 17-year history.
This article first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Mathew Di Salvo.
