Bitcoin surges to $69,000 after Treasury bond buying announcement

Bitcoin recovered from months of decline, climbing almost 6% to exceed $69,000, a price last reached in early June. The rally was triggered by the Treasury Department’s plan to double purchases of older long-term bonds, which analysts interpreted as a subtle form of quantitative easing that depresses the dollar and lifts assets like Bitcoin. Matt Mena of 21Shares explained that the announcement forced short sellers to buy back roughly $1.5 billion of Bitcoin, including a $700 million purchase in a single minute, potentially marking the largest short squeeze in the coin’s history.

The price boost was reinforced by about $1 billion of inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs during early August and by parallel gains in Ethereum and Zcash, each up 9% in 24 hours. Grayscale’s head of research Zach Pandl suggested the market may have bottomed around $58,000 earlier this summer and sees the current environment as attractive for long-term investors. Recent regulatory developments, such as the SEC’s proposed crypto-friendly framework, also contributed to the positive sentiment.