BTC rose 7.70% to USD 69,003 as a USD 1.33B short squeeze and Treasury buyback reports lifted risk appetite.

On August 20, crypto markets jumped sharply, led by Bitcoin rising above $69,000 for the first time since June. Bitcoin gained nearly 8% in 24 hours and briefly neared $70,000. Ethereum surged 18% to above $2,250, while XRP and Solana each rose more than 10%. Total crypto market capitalization climbed 7.8% over 24 hours to $2.45 trillion, according to CoinGecko data.

The US Treasury said it will double the per-operation cap of its long-term bond buyback program from $2 billion to at least $4 billion, targeting 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year Treasuries from September 9 through November 4. After the announcement, the 10-year yield fell 6 bps to 4.647% and the 30-year yield slid 9 bps to 5.196%. Bitcoin then surged from around $65,400 to $69,700, gaining more than $2,000 in a single minute intraday. Crypto derivatives also swung sharply, with total liquidations reaching $1.59 billion over 24 hours, including $746 million in Bitcoin short liquidations.

U.S. spot Solana ETFs posted $1.58 million in daily net inflows on Aug. 18, bringing cumulative net inflows to $1.16 billion and total net assets to $923.57 million. The products logged $30.13 million in total value traded for the day. Analysts are also turning more bullish on SOL, with attention on whether it can break above the $100 level. Some projections cited potential targets of $295 and even $400.

Japan-listed Metaplanet has invested 2,100 bitcoin and plans to build a U.S. Treasury platform in cooperation with Nasdaq. The initiative aims to incorporate bitcoin into the U.S. Treasury ecosystem and provide institutional investors with compliant crypto-asset custody and financing services. The move highlights deeper integration between traditional finance and crypto markets and could support bitcoin’s market depth and mainstream adoption.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley both raised their price targets on Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms while maintaining Overweight ratings. JPMorgan lifted its target to $22 from $20, and Morgan Stanley increased its target to $43 from $36. The moves follow Riot’s Aug. 11 announcement of a 20-year, $9 billion compute agreement with AI company Anthropic that is expected to generate $9.1 billion in revenue, rising to roughly $16.1 billion if renewed twice. The deal underscores a broader shift by Bitcoin miners toward AI infrastructure that has drawn support from Wall Street analysts.

Bitcoin treasury company Strategy raised $333.7 million last week by issuing MSTR shares but did not buy any bitcoin. About 40% of the proceeds went to repurchasing STRC preferred shares, 16% to STRC dividends, and the remainder was retained as cash. It marked the fourth straight week without a BTC purchase, and the company has reduced its holdings by 6,916 BTC since June 21, 2026. Since its last reported BTC buy, MSTR is down 16%, while STRC has traded below $95.

A Nasdaq-listed company in the Solana ecosystem reported $2.5 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2025, with nearly all of it coming from staking. The company posted a net loss of $30.3 million over the same period, largely driven by realized losses on digital assets. The results highlight its heavy reliance on staking as a single revenue stream. They also underscore significant financial risks tied to holding digital assets.