Bitcoin rises 11% past $71K as Treasury doubles bond buybacks

Bitcoin rose nearly 11 percent to $71,600 in 24 hours, its biggest single-day gain since March, after the Treasury doubled long-dated bond buybacks.

"Bitcoin, a way to store wealth without a central authority, was built to allow investors a way to avoid this type of intervention," Geoffrey Kendrick, head of crypto at Standard Chartered, said. "Investors should now be positioning for a move to $100,000 by year-end 2026."

The Treasury's announcement — increasing liquidity support buyback operations from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation for the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year sectors — came as U.S. federal debt passed $40 trillion for the first time. The July budget deficit hit $432 billion, the largest monthly shortfall since March 2021, pushing the fiscal-year-to-date gap to $1.8 trillion.

CoinGlass data shows about $3.3 billion in leveraged crypto bets were liquidated in the last 24 hours, with short positions accounting for $3 billion. Ethereum and Bitcoin positions led the wipeout at $1.73 billion and $1.15 billion respectively. The event ranks as the largest liquidation of 2026 and the third-largest over the past year, behind September's $3.6 billion flush and October's $19 billion wipeout following the U.S. tariff hike on China.

Ethereum outperformed Bitcoin, rising nearly 20 percent to $2,200, a two-month high, according to CoinGecko. XRP jumped 15 percent, recovering more than $9 billion in market capitalization, while Solana gained 13 percent. The move pushed Bitcoin to its highest level since May 31 and flipped retail sentiment on Stocktwits to "extremely bullish" from "neutral."

Despite the surge, Bitcoin remains down about 17 percent for the year and roughly 43 percent below its record high of $126,000 from October. Kendrick's $100,000 year-end target implies further upside of about 40 percent from current levels.

Crypto Equities Jump 6-9% in Pre-Market

Crypto-linked equities extended Wednesday's rally in pre-market trading Thursday. Strategy (MSTR) rose about 9 percent after gaining 12 percent in the prior session, on track for a two-month high. Retail sentiment around Michael Saylor's firm flipped to "bullish" from "bearish" on Stocktwits. Strive (ASST) climbed 9 percent following a 15 percent jump, with sentiment reaching "extremely bullish."

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) gained 9 percent after rising 10 percent in the prior session, while Coinbase (COIN) and Circle (CRCL) each rose about 6 percent. All four tickers were among the top trending on Stocktwits.

The rally coincided with President Donald Trump's White House meeting with crypto executives, where he said the U.S. is open to buying "sizeable amounts" of bitcoin for its strategic reserve. The SEC also dropped its long-awaited "Reg Crypto" rule this week, creating a safe harbor for crypto companies.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.