Bitcoin’s 24% rally faces $70K test as yields rebound: analysts

Bitcoin’s Rally Nears $80,000, but Analysts Caution on Yields

Bitcoin climbed near $80,000 on Aug. 24, trading at approximately $79,800 after rising from below $64,000 on Aug. 19. The move represented a gain of roughly 24% over the week, the strongest weekly advance since March 2023, according to Gadi Chait, investment manager at Xapo Bank. Earlier in the day, the price had surpassed $80,000 for the first time in three months, as reported by CoinGape.

The rally was fueled by a combination of factors, including a US Treasury announcement on Aug. 19 that it would at least double the maximum size of its liquidity-support buybacks for Treasuries with maturities of 10 to 30 years, from $2 billion to at least $4 billion starting Sept. 9. Markets interpreted the move as an effort to improve liquidity in long-dated government debt after yields had weighed on risk assets.

Renewed expectations for clearer US crypto rules also contributed, after President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to advance the CLARITY Act, a proposed legislation that remains subject to Senate action.

ETF Inflows Show Genuine Demand

Chait said the sources of demand behind the rally were as important as the size of the price increase. "Approximately $1.9 billion flowed into US spot Bitcoin ETFs, providing evidence of genuine investor demand, while record short liquidations added further momentum."

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded five consecutive trading days of inflows through Aug. 21. CoinGape reported a similar figure of around $1.92 billion since Aug. 17, with daily inflows of $297.5 million on Aug. 17, $189.3 million on Aug. 18, $517.2 million on Aug. 19, $606.3 million on Aug. 20, and $307.5 million on Aug. 21, per Farside UK data. CryptoSlate cited a slightly different figure of $2.6 billion in fresh ETF inflows during the week, as Bitcoin and Ethereum surged.

Justin d'Anethan of Arctic Digital attributed the rally to changing expectations around US rates bringing investors back to Bitcoin, with pent-up demand and a multi-month underperformance also contributing. He noted that bullish engulfing patterns had appeared on Bitcoin's daily and weekly charts, suggesting a possible trend reversal.

Diverging Corporate Treasury Strategies

The breakout produced a sharp split between the companies behind crypto's two largest corporate treasuries. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, used the strength to raise capital without adding to its BTC holdings, while BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest ETH holding company, continued buying the digital asset into the rally.

Between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23, Strategy said it sold 18.26 million MSTR shares for about $2.01 billion in net proceeds. Rather than recycling that money into Bitcoin, it directed $300 million into its existing USD Reserve, used $136.4 million to repurchase STRC preferred shares, and placed most of the remainder into a newly created USD Cash account. That pushed the company's dollar liquidity to $6.69 billion as of Aug. 23, including $5.10 billion in its reserve and $1.59 billion in the new cash pool.

Strategy, which owns 840,447 BTC acquired for about $63.36 billion, did not add to its position during the week. The distinction between the two accounts gives the company flexibility: the USD Reserve is primarily intended to cover preferred-stock dividends and interest obligations, while USD Cash can be used to buy Bitcoin, repurchase shares, repay debt, or fund other treasury transactions.

In contrast, BitMine bought 32,447 ETH during the week, lifting its holdings to 5.85 million tokens as of Aug. 23, about 4.8% of Ethereum's circulating supply. Tom Lee, Chairman of BitMine, said annualized staking revenues are projected at $330 million. BitMine has 5.07 million ETH staked, about 87% of its treasury, and reported $308 million in cash and marketable securities.

Outlook: $90,000 or $70,000?

Analysts offered conditional views on Bitcoin's next move. Jeff Mei of BTSE said that if the Treasury expands its buybacks and the CLARITY Act makes material progress by mid-September, Bitcoin could reach $90,000; without further catalysts, it could fall to $70,000. Mei also noted that Treasury buybacks are small relative to the over $30 trillion Treasuries market.

Zaye Capital Markets identified three catalysts for further upside: institutional demand, regulatory progress on the CLARITY Act, and Treasury market conditions. The research firm said Bitcoin's market behaviour is becoming more complex: it can still move with risk assets such as equities, but it can also be a positive influence during times of inflation fears and government debt concerns.

Ethereum also surged, gaining about 30% in its strongest weekly advance since May 2025, according to CryptoSlate. The rally forced billions of dollars in bearish positions out of the market and pushed both assets to multi-month highs. However, analysts cautioned that further gains may depend on easing US bond yields, continued ETF demand, and progress on the CLARITY Act. A surge largely fueled by short sellers' closing trades could be short-lived without genuine buying demand, Zaye Capital Markets warned.