Bitcoin on track for biggest weekly gain in over three years

Bitcoin continued to rally on Friday, putting it on track for its best weekly gain in more than three years.

The original cryptocurrency climbed more than 8% to trade around $78,500 as of 9:53 a.m. in London. It has advanced roughly 25% this week, a gain that, if sustained, would be its biggest weekly increase since March 2023.

Market exuberance returned to cryptocurrencies when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Wednesday the department would at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks, triggering an upswing that forced traders to liquidate billions in short positions. The same day, President Donald Trump met with crypto industry leaders, further adding to optimism.

“The real driver was they US Treasury doubling long-dated bond buybacks, which pulled long yields lower and lifted risk appetite broadly,” said Rachael Lucas, an analyst at BTC Markets. “Nothing has rewritten Bitcoin’s long-term case, but nothing’s rewritten its volatility either.”

A short squeeze continues to be a major driver of rising Bitcoin prices, according to Adam Morgan McCarthy, lead researcher at LO:TECH, a London-based digital-asset liquidity and market data firm. Over $2 billion in bearish Bitcoin bets in the perpetual futures market have been liquidated since Aug. 19, according to Coinglass data.