Bitcoin is trading above $77,000 and briefly touched $79,000 on its third straight day of gains, up roughly 23% on the week. A Treasury bond buyback announcement triggered a wave of short-position liquidations, and ether and Hyperliquid's HYPE token are climbing alongside bitcoin.
Bitcoin is trading above $77,000 today, its third straight day of gains after a sharp bounce from the mid-$60,000 range earlier this week. The token briefly touched $79,000 this morning. It is also up roughly 23% on the week. Separately, crypto.news put the move at roughly 20% over seven days, which it called bitcoin's best week since March 2024.
A Treasury surprise triggers a short squeeze
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. Traders who had shorted bitcoin were caught wrong-footed by the friendlier tone. About $3 billion in short positions were liquidated over the following day, and each forced sale added to the buying pressure behind the short squeeze. Bankless also pointed to the Clarity Act push and crypto reserve comments from this week's White House summit, plus strong ETF inflows, as catalysts behind the rally.
Sentiment flips from fear to greed
The Fear & Greed Index jumped from 46 to 62 in a single day. It then kept climbing to 72 by Friday. According to crypto.news: "Forty-six to seventy-two in two days sounds like leverage and momentum, not real conviction," said Rick Cramer, Head of Analytics at SimpleSwap. Funding rates, what leveraged traders pay to hold long positions, hit a 20-month high this week.
The rally has also revived debasement-trade talk, with Glassnode noting that bitcoin rose more than 20% after the buyback announcement while equities barely moved. Former Goldman Sachs FX strategist Robin Brooks argued the move points to a sharper dollar decline this round, but said he would stay away from bitcoin itself, arguing markets still don't treat it as a safe haven the way they treat gold and silver.
Ether and Hyperliquid ride the same wave
Ether has spiked toward $2,400. It has also outpaced bitcoin with a 28% climb over seven days, fueled by its own 20% surge on August 19.
Hyperliquid's HYPE token also set a fresh all-time high above $77, up 36% on the week, after President Trump specifically cited Hyperliquid during his summit remarks and signaled that the CFTC is working to bring the exchange onshore in the U.S.
Sources: Bankless, crypto.news, Bitcoin.com
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
