Bitcoin Tops $81,000 as ETF Inflows and U.S. Treasury Buybacks Boost Demand

Bitcoin rose above $81,000 on Tuesday, reaching its highest level since mid-May, as nearly $2 billion of weekly inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds added fresh demand to the market and traders also linked the move to a new U.S. Treasury plan to expand buybacks of longer-dated debt and a softer dollar.

Reuters reported that bitcoin touched $81,237.94 in Asian trading hours on Aug. 25, 2026. The advance came after U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in about $1.92 billion in net inflows over the five trading days through Aug. 21, according to ETF flow trackers cited by market outlets. A large share of that total, about $1.33 billion, went to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT.

The Treasury Department said Aug. 19 that it was “increasing, by at least double,” the size of liquidity-support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities in the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors. Treasury buybacks are a standard debt-management tool used to support market liquidity, but the larger size for long-dated securities marked a notable shift. Treasury said, “The current maximum size of $2 billion per operation will be at least $4 billion per operation.” The change takes effect Sept. 9 and will remain in place through the refunding quarter ending Nov. 4.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reinforced that message in a CNBC interview, saying, “We routinely do buybacks, and we’re going to increase the size of the buyback.” He also said Treasury could raise the size further depending on market conditions. Market participants and analysts, as cited by Reuters and CoinDesk, interpreted the announcement as supportive for lower long-term yields and a weaker U.S. dollar. That, in turn, can help dollar-priced assets such as bitcoin and gold. Reuters’ foreign exchange coverage described the dollar as hovering near multi-week to three-month lows in recent sessions. Still, that Treasury-and-dollar link is a market reading of the move, not proof of a single cause for bitcoin’s rally.

Direct demand from ETF buyers remained the clearest fundamental support. Spot Bitcoin ETFs hold bitcoin on behalf of investors, so inflows generally translate into purchases of the underlying asset. That matters in a market where sustained new buying can quickly tighten available supply and push prices higher.

The rally may also have been amplified by traders being forced out of bearish bets. CoinDesk reported that roughly $4 billion of short crypto positions were liquidated during the move, suggesting short covering helped accelerate gains. That figure was reported by CoinDesk and was not independently verified here, but it points to a common dynamic in fast crypto rallies: once prices rise sharply, traders betting on a decline can be forced to buy back positions, adding to upward momentum.

Bitcoin’s rise above $81,000 does not mark a record high. It is a multi-week high, the strongest level since mid-May. For markets, the move reflected a combination of heavy ETF inflows and macro signals that traders viewed as favorable for hard assets, including a softer dollar and Treasury’s decision to increase long-end buybacks.