Bitcoin broke out of a six-week trading range and climbed above $72,000. Samson Mow, chief executive of Jan3, again stressed bitcoin’s role as a safe haven.

On Aug. 20, blockchain media outlet U.Today reported that Mow pointed to shifts in funds driven by macroeconomic uncertainty as the background to bitcoin’s recent surge.

“The market seized the opportunity,” Mow said. “Money is pouring into bitcoin as a safe haven.” He said demand aimed at responding to instability in the government bond market and a weaker dollar turned toward bitcoin. On the day, bitcoin rose into the $72,000 range after breaking out of its six-week range.

The direct trigger for bitcoin’s rise was cited as the U.S. Treasury’s expansion of long-dated bond buybacks. The Treasury said on Aug. 19 it would at least double the size of buybacks to supply liquidity to the long-term Treasury market. After that, U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar weakened together, and the 30-year Treasury yield fell by about 7 basis points.

When long-term Treasury yields rise, Treasuries become more attractive as investments, while bitcoin, which is sensitive to liquidity, can come under pressure. The stabilising effect in the bond market did not last long, but it acted as a positive signal for the cryptocurrency market.

Institutional inflows also stood out. SoSoValue said net inflows into spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds totalled $517.2 million on Aug. 19. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for more than half at $284.7 million, while Ark·21Shares’ ARKB and Fidelity’s FBTC drew $77.7 million and $62.4 million, respectively.

Signs of recovering demand also appeared in spot and derivatives markets. Ki Young Ju (주기영), chief executive of CryptoQuant, said bitcoin demand in both the spot market and the perpetual futures market turned positive for the first time since the all-time high in October 2025. He added that demand strength remained modest and said the trend would need to continue for another month to judge that the bear market had ended.

Ultimately, as Mow argues, whether bitcoin can continue to absorb safe-haven demand will depend on future fund flows. If ETF net inflows and spot demand continue, this rise could be assessed as a structural shift in funds responding to macro uncertainty, but if inflows weaken it could end up as a rebound driven by short-term liquidations and liquidity expectations.

This rise is drawing attention because it involves not only a price breakout but also ETF inflows and improving spot and futures demand at the same time. With differing interpretations alongside assessments that demand is still not large, whether the trend continues remains a key variable.

The market smells blood in the water and is climbing into the Bitcoin boat for safety. pic.twitter.com/zPjIlGH6eX