Bitcoin jumped 8.7% in a day on August 19, 2026, to $69,749. This increase set a record for the strongest daily movement since March 4 and brought the largest crypto asset to its highest price since June 1. The crypto market responded to this trend with an increase in total market capitalization of over 5%, injecting $190 billion in value within 24 hours according to data from WatcherGuru.
‘QE Lite’ from the US Treasury
This surge was triggered by the US Treasury’s announcement that it will double its long-term bond buyback program. Starting September 9, 2026, buyback operations will be increased from $2 billion to a minimum of $4 billion per operation. This policy created an effect that the market refers to as ‘QE Lite’ - bond yields were pushed down, the dollar weakened, and capital flowed heavily into risk assets like crypto, which immediately strengthened. This rally coincided with political momentum following a White House meeting attended by Trump, regulators SEC and CFTC, along with several crypto industry executives.
$1.14 Billion Liquidation in 60 Minutes
This rapid rally trapped traders betting that the price would drop. In the span of just one hour, $1.14 billion in crypto short positions across various exchanges were forcibly wiped out. Bitcoin short positions accounted for the largest share, with liquidations reaching $677.64 million. On-chain data from lookonchain detailed large individual losses: wallet 0x8c96 lost its entire short position of 1,800 BTC worth $117 million, 0x431f lost 677 BTC or $44 million, and 0x004e lost 500 BTC worth $33 million.
A trader with the identity pension-usdt.eth, who had previously recorded a $49 million profit through 23 consecutive wins, also failed to avoid this price surge. Their entire short position of 50,000 ETH, valued at $106 million, was liquidated, leaving a loss of $23.9 million from that single transaction.
Crypto Stocks and Reversal of Expectations
The spot market price increase spread directly to the stock prices of exchange companies and crypto miners. Strategy shares closed 12% higher, supported by data showing holdings of 840,447 BTC and cash reserves of $4.8 billion in the latest weekly report. Coinbase rose 9%, followed by 9-10% upward movements from Circle and BitMine. BitMine currently holds 5.82 million ETH worth $11.4 billion, which is equivalent to 4.8% of the total circulating supply of Ethereum.
In prediction markets, the price jump reversed public expectations that were previously pessimistic. A day before the surge, the Myriad platform recorded a 70% bet for the price to drop to $55,000 against only a 30% chance of rising to $84,000. Once the rally occurred, the figure corrected to nearly 50:50, with 51.9% betting the price would drop compared to 48.1% expecting it to rise. Projections from the Kalshi platform, which previously gave a 54% chance for Bitcoin to break $67,500 and 31% to break $70,000 in August, have now been surpassed by the real price movement.
Fiscal instrument decisions proved to have an instant effect beyond the control of exchange traders. A single change in the bond buyback schedule wiped out billions of dollars in positions from those betting against the market.
Reported from Decrypt.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
