Bitcoin broke $80K on Treasury buybacks, not sentiment

Bitcoin pushed past $80,000 for the first time since May, following a shift in how the U.S. Treasury handles long-dated bond buybacks—not broader “crypto sentiment” headlines. On August 19, Treasury doubled the maximum size of liquidity support buyback operations for 10-20 year and 20-30 year maturities. Within 72 hours, $3.5 billion in crypto shorts were liquidated and the Fear and Greed Index jumped from 27 to 74. The article argues the key driver was a bond-market mechanism: buybacks reduced long-dated supply, compressing yields by 15 basis points, which then triggered a large liquidation cascade across leveraged derivatives positions. It notes the new parameters begin September 9 through the Nov. 4 refunding quarter.