Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) jumped shortly after the U.S. Treasury announced an expansion of long-term Treasury buybacks.

On Aug. 19, blockchain media outlet CryptoSlate reported that bitcoin rose above $69,500 intraday and ether climbed above $2,000.

The U.S. Treasury said it would raise the maximum size per operation for liquidity-support buybacks of 10 to 20-year and 20 to 30-year Treasuries from $2 billion to at least $4 billion. The new 기준 applies from Sept. 9 to Nov. 4. The measure aims to ease supply-demand pressure in the long-term market.

Bond markets reacted immediately after the announcement. The 30-year Treasury yield fell to about 5.19 percent from a previous-day high of 5.34 percent, and the 10-year yield slipped to 4.647 percent. The gap between 2-year and 30-year yields also narrowed quickly. As long-term borrowing costs fell, buying spread across risk assets. Bitcoin rebounded sharply from an intraday low near $64,100 to above $69,000, then traded around $68,000. Ether regained the $2,000 level for the first time since June and rose to $2,100.

Losses also grew for investors betting on declines during the surge. CoinGlass data showed more than $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency positions were liquidated in 1 hour, with most losses concentrated in bitcoin and ether. In the same period, losses on short positions alone totaled about $1.29 billion. Over 24 hours, more than 110,000 people saw total liquidations of more than $1.45 billion. The single largest liquidation was a $32 million ETH-USD position on Bitget.

The measure differs from quantitative easing. The Treasury drew a line, saying it was intended to bolster liquidity in existing long-term Treasuries. The Treasury said the expanded buybacks are meant to provide greater liquidity support in the long-term segment, where selling by market participants has remained steadily heavy, and that it reflected sustained strong demand in the long-term nominal yield segment.

Markets see the recent sharp rise in long-term yields as a direct burden on risk assets such as bitcoin. When long-term yields, especially real yields, rise, the cost of capital increases and the appeal of risk-free Treasury returns grows. That works against long-duration growth assets such as tech stocks and bitcoin. This pullback in yields effectively removes one source of pressure.

André Dragosch (안드레 드라고시), head of research at Bitwise Europe, viewed the Treasury move as a response to pressure in the long-term Treasury market. He said the system is showing the first signs of cracking, adding that rising yields have already prompted Treasury intervention and that bitcoin is sensing it first.

Matt Cole (매트 콜), chairman of bitcoin treasury company Strive, also argued it could strengthen the bullish case for bitcoin over a longer horizon. He said federal debt and persistent fiscal deficits leave policymakers with difficult choices. "There is no painless path. The only question is where the burden of adjustment will be absorbed," he said.

Still, the expanded buybacks are not a measure to reduce total government debt. It is also not a way to increase reserves or expand the balance sheet like central bank asset purchases. Even so, markets have again confirmed how sensitive bitcoin and other asset prices are to changes in long-term borrowing costs. In this environment, the direction of long-term yields and further Treasury supply-demand responses are emerging as factors that will shape the next bout of volatility in the crypto market.