Bitcoin (BTC) Price: ETFs Just Had Their Best Week Since October 2025 as BTC Eyes $80,000

TLDR

• Bitcoin surged ~25% to nearly $80,000 after the U.S. Treasury doubled buybacks on long-dated bonds
• Around $4 billion in bearish crypto positions were liquidated as prices rose
• U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $1.6 billion in net inflows this week
• Strategy’s 840,447 BTC holdings are back in profit with an unrealized gain of over $2 billion
• Analysts say the rally was partly driven by a record short squeeze, not just improved macro conditions

Bitcoin jumped roughly 25% this week, pushing past $78,000 and touching a high of $79,500, after a U.S. Treasury policy tweak helped pull long-term bond yields off 19-year highs.

The Treasury announced it would double the size of its buyback operations for longer-dated government bonds, raising purchases to $4 billion per operation from $2 billion. That helped push the 30-year Treasury yield down from 5.34% to around 5.19%.

BREAKING: US Treasury Secretary Bessent says Treasury buybacks announced yesterday could now MORE than double, exceeding $4 billion per operation.

Bessent said buybacks will increase “by at least double,” adding, “we have a big toolkit, so we’ll see.”

This comes just hours… https://t.co/SLNs0MfTgD

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 20, 2026

The move triggered a wave of forced buying as bearish traders were squeezed out of their positions. Around $4 billion in short crypto bets were liquidated on Thursday and Friday alone.

Analysts were quick to put the rally in context. “The Treasury opened a pressure valve, and crypto priced it like a regime change,” said Shawn Young, chief analyst at MEXC Research. He added that Bitcoin’s push to $70,000 looks premature given that Treasuries are still paying close to 5%.

Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, described the buyback as “a signal, a soft policy put on the long end,” rather than a genuine shift in financial conditions. He noted it is not quantitative easing.

ETF Flows Rebound Strongly

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs added $1.6 billion in net inflows this week. BlackRock alone added $503 million to its IBIT fund on Thursday. Combined ETF assets climbed above $85 billion, up from around $70 billion in June.

ETFs bought $1,920,000,000 in $BTC this week.

Biggest weekly inflow since October 2025. pic.twitter.com/c8rbuSmsRF

— Ted (@TedPillows) August 22, 2026

Analyst Ted Pillows noted on X that ETFs bought $1.92 billion in BTC this week — the biggest weekly inflow since October 2025. He also pointed out that Bitcoin broke above every key resistance level, with the $78,000–$80,000 zone now the critical area to watch. A hold above that range, he said, would confirm the end of the bear market.

$BTC weekly candle is just insane.

Breaking above every resistance level like it's nothing.

Now, Bitcoin is moving towards its $78,000-$80,000 resistance zone.

A reclaim of this will confirm the end of this bear market. pic.twitter.com/lxvivlLMkb

— Ted (@TedPillows) August 21, 2026

Research firm Bernstein linked the price recovery to improving liquidity, rebounding ETF demand, and a more supportive regulatory backdrop. Analysts there expect accelerated SEC and CFTC rulemaking on areas including tokenized equities and prediction markets.

Strategy’s Bitcoin Back in the Black

Strategy currently holds 840,447 BTC bought at an average price of $75,385. With Bitcoin trading near $78,000, the position carries an unrealized profit of over $2 billion.

The firm sold around 0.8% of its holdings in recent weeks to support dividends and buybacks of its STRC preferred stock. Bernstein expects Strategy to resume buying as STRC moves back toward its $100 nominal value.

Ko flagged Bitcoin’s 200-day moving average near $69,000 as the key technical level. Bitcoin has now cleared that level and needs to hold it against a backdrop of government bonds still paying investors close to 5%.

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