Bitcoin’s market cap rises $416B in 9 weeks as Treasury policy shift fuels historic rally

Bitcoin added roughly $416 billion in market capitalization over the span of nine weeks, climbing from the low-to-mid $60,000s in early August to peaks above $79,000 before settling in the $77,000 to $78,000 range by late August.

At approximately $1.54 trillion, Bitcoin briefly became the 13th-largest asset on the planet, edging past Meta Platforms in the global rankings. The Fear & Greed Index, a widely watched gauge of crypto market sentiment, spiked to 78, a level indicating extreme greed and the highest reading since December 2024.

The Treasury catalyst nobody saw coming

On August 20-21, the Treasury announced it would expand its long-term bond buyback program, raising the operational cap from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The immediate effect was mechanical: increased demand for existing bonds pushed yields lower. Lower yields make safe-haven assets less attractive and risk assets more compelling, and a non-trivial amount of capital ended up flowing into crypto.

A record-breaking week in raw dollar terms

Bitcoin gained $14,264 in a single week, closing at $77,387. That’s a 22.7% weekly jump, the largest single-week gain in USD terms the asset has ever recorded.

Part of the velocity came from a short squeeze that liquidated over $3 billion in bearish positions within just 48 hours. Traders who had been betting against Bitcoin were forced to buy back into a rapidly appreciating market, creating a feedback loop that accelerated the price increase beyond what organic demand alone would have produced.

ETF inflows tell the institutional story

During the week ending August 21, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $1.92 billion in net inflows, the highest weekly total since late 2025.

These products, which launched in early 2024, have become the primary on-ramp for institutional capital entering Bitcoin, allowing pension funds, endowments, and registered investment advisors to gain Bitcoin exposure through familiar brokerage infrastructure. As Treasury yields dropped following the buyback expansion announcement, portfolio managers rebalancing toward risk assets found Bitcoin ETFs available through standard brokerage accounts.