Bitcoin hits $69,000, ether jumps 10% as Treasury buybacks, SEC crypto proposal fuel market rally

Bitcoin climbed to $69,000 for the first time in two months on Wednesday, while ether reclaimed $2,000 as crypto markets rallied following a Treasury buyback expansion and the SEC's latest crypto offering proposal.

On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said it is increasing, by at least double, the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities (the 10-year to 20-year sector and the 20-year to 30-year sector).  The current maximum size of $2 billion per operation will be at least $4 billion per operation. This change is effective Sept. 9 and will be in effect for the remainder of this refunding quarter through Nov. 4.

"This increase in buyback operation sizes reflects Treasury’s desire to provide greater liquidity support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants, as evidenced by the significant volume of high-quality offers Treasury routinely receives in longer-dated buyback operations," the Treasury said in a release.

The Secruties nd Exchange Commission on Tuesday afternoon proposed a rule that would open the door to offerings of crypto assets tied to investment contracts. The agency's "Regulation Crypto Assets" would create two tailored exemptions for certain crypto investment contracts: issuers could raise up to $5 million over four years or $75 million annually, subject to disclosure requirements.

Meanwhile, several crypto executives are meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

That seemed to be the shot in the arm investors were looking for, with bitcoin (BTC) touching the $69,000 level for the first time in two months, while ether (ETH) jumped 10% to hit $2,000 for the first time since May, according to The Block's price data. Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and other major altcoins rose more than 5% over the past 24 hours.

The rally also triggered a wave of liquidations, with leveraged traders caught on the wrong side of the move. Total liquidations over the past 24 hours came in at $1.92 billion, according to CoinGlass data. That figure in the past four hours alone sits at around $1.7 billion.

It should also be noted that the total liquidations will likely exceed this amount. Reported liquidation figures are based on publicly available data, which may understate the true extent of market liquidations, especially in real time.

BTC finds momentum?

"Bitcoin found fresh momentum today as the Fed stepped up Treasury buybacks across the 10- to 30-year segment, providing additional liquidity support at the long end of the U.S. yield curve," Paul Howard, Senior Director, Wincent, said in a statement. "This shouldn’t be confused with the traditional QE programmes we saw five years ago, but the liquidity impact is still meaningful. By easing conditions in longer-dated Treasuries, the move is providing a more supportive backdrop for risk-taking and short-term speculation in crypto, helping propel BTC towards a one-month high."

Earlier this week, VanEck said the bitcoin correction may be nearing an end with 8 of 12 capitulation signals flashing.

"VanEck noted that the three previous bitcoin bear market phases have taken an average of 12.7 months from peak to max drawdown," The Block reported on Tuesday. "Bitcoin is now roughly in its 11th month from its early October peak, putting a potential transition to accumulation in September through November based on historical cycles."

Meanwhile, crypto-linked equities also received a bump in Wednesday's trading session. Fold Holdings (FLD) led the way, jumping nearly 20%, while BitGo (BTGO) and American Bitcoin Corp (ABTC) rose about 15% apiece.

Strategy (MSTR) and Bitmine (BMNR) — the leading BTC and ETH digital asset treasuries — were up around 10% at publication time, according to The Block's price data.