Bitcoin Posts Best Week Since 2023 as Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Rally Over 25% on Treasury Buybacks

Bitcoin posted its best week since March 2024, rising roughly 20% in seven days to trade above $75,000 in Asian hours on Friday, August 21, 2026, according to crypto_news_dot. The move followed a surprise Treasury announcement on Wednesday that doubled long-duration bond buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. Ethereum climbed alongside bitcoin, and total crypto market capitalization returned above $2.5 trillion. The Fear & Greed Index jumped from 46 to 62 in a single day and reached 72 by Friday. About $3 billion in short positions were liquidated over the following day, and funding rates hit a 20-month high. The policy change does not take effect until September 9 and runs through November 4.

Background

According to crypto_news_dot, bitcoin had spent most of the two weeks before the rally below $65,000. Long-bond yields had climbed to a near two-decade high after months of weak demand for 30-year debt. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled the size of the department's long-duration bond buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The article notes that the change does not take effect until September 9 and runs through November 4, and that no Treasury cash has moved yet. The announcement itself said it all: long-bond yields dropped sharply within minutes as traders saw the surprise timing as a sign the Treasury would step in to support a shaky market. That relief faded fast, with yields drifting back up by Thursday morning, and economists were split on whether a modestly bigger buyback program changes much structurally. Bessent added fuel on Thursday, telling CNBC that the eventual buyback total could exceed $4 billion. The article describes the episode as a signaling story rather than a plumbing one, because a policy surprise most crypto traders had never heard of on Tuesday moved the market's price and mood before a single dollar of the actual buyback had been spent.

What happened

crypto_news_dot reports that on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled the size of the department's long-duration bond buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The article states the change does not take effect until September 9 and runs through November 4, and that no Treasury cash has moved yet. Long-bond yields, which had climbed to a near-two-decade high after months of weak demand for 30-year debt, dropped sharply within minutes as traders saw the surprise timing as a sign the Treasury would support a shaky market. That relief faded fast: yields drifted back up by Thursday morning, and economists were split on whether a modestly bigger buyback program changes much of anything structurally. Crypto's reaction did not fade with it. Traders who had shorted bitcoin, positioned for tighter conditions rather than a friendlier-sounding Treasury, got caught wrong-footed by the shift in tone. About $3 billion in short positions were liquidated over the following day, and each forced liquidation led to more buying, which kept pushing the price up on its own, regardless of what bonds were doing by then. Bessent added fuel on Thursday, telling CNBC that the eventual buyback total could exceed $4 billion. The article describes the episode as a signaling story rather than a plumbing one. The Fear & Greed Index jumped from 46 to 62 in a single day, one of the sharper sentiment swings of the year, then kept climbing to 72 by Friday.

Market impact

crypto_news_dot reports that bitcoin is up roughly 20% in seven days, its best week since March 2024, trading above $75,000 in Asian hours on Friday after spending most of the past two weeks below $65,000. Ethereum climbed right along with it, and total crypto market capitalization is back above $2.5 trillion. About $3 billion in short positions were liquidated over the following day. The Fear & Greed Index jumped from 46 to 62 in a single day, one of the sharper sentiment swings of the year, then kept climbing to 72 by Friday. Funding rates, what leveraged traders pay to hold a long position on perpetual futures, hit a 20-month high this week. The article notes that elevated funding has appeared right before most of Bitcoin's sharper pullbacks over the past two years, because it signals that the rally is increasingly running on borrowed money rather than fresh buyers. Spot ETF flows turned positive again in July and stayed positive into August after a rough first half of the year. The article states that one good week doesn't mean much on its own, and that a few in a row have historically been a better read on institutional conviction than any single day's candle.

Why it matters

crypto_news_dot frames the move as a signaling story rather than a plumbing one: a policy surprise most crypto traders had never heard of on Tuesday moved the market's price and its mood before a single dollar of the actual buyback had been spent. The article notes there is no consensus on whether the move means anything beyond this week, but the raw inputs are public enough to weigh. Both sides are reading real data, just on different clocks: flows and positioning shift over weeks, while sentiment and leverage can turn in a single bad session. Rick Cramer, Head of Analytics at SimpleSwap, said in the article that forty-six to seventy-two in two days sounds like leverage and momentum, not real conviction, and that true conviction builds over weeks. The article also notes that funding rates hit a 20-month high this week, and that elevated funding has appeared right before most of Bitcoin's sharper pullbacks over the past two years. Spot ETF flows turned positive again in July and stayed positive into August, which the article says is a cleaner story because the funds publish inflows and outflows daily.