Summary
- On Wednesday, Bitcoin surged by as much as 8.7%, reaching an intraday peak of $69,749, marking its most significant daily increase since March 4 and its highest price since June 1.
- Prediction odds on Myriad shifted dramatically from approximately 70-30 in favor of a bearish trend to nearly even within just 24 hours.
- This rally was spurred by a U.S. Treasury announcement to double its long-bond buybacks, along with over $1 billion in short liquidations occurring within an hour.
Bitcoin broke through the $69,000 threshold on Wednesday, climbing as much as 8.7% to an intraday high of $69,749. This marks its most substantial one-day gain since March 4 and the highest valuation since June 1. Traders have not witnessed such a positive movement in over five months.
What lies ahead for Bitcoin? Current forecasts from technical charts differ from those in prediction markets. Just 24 hours prior, traders on Myriad—a prediction platform operated by Decrypt's parent company—were anticipating further declines for Bitcoin. Now, the odds have shifted to a near coin flip, indicating rapid changes in sentiment.
Myriad: What’s next for Bitcoin’s price? Make your prediction here.The catalyst for this significant surge seems to originate outside the crypto space. The U.S. Treasury announced on Wednesday its plans to at least double its long-bond buybacks, increasing from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation beginning September 9. This move is expected to lower long-term yields and weaken the dollar. Such actions typically benefit risk assets like cryptocurrencies, as lower yields decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like Bitcoin, while a weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated assets more affordable for international investors. Analysts have referred to this as 'QE Lite.'
Here Comes QE Lite: Yields, Dollar Tumble, Gold Spikes After Treasury Unexpectedly Doubles Size Of Long-End Treasury Buybacks https://t.co/tkGPY0BEf0
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 19, 2026
This surge coincided with a meeting at the White House involving cryptocurrency executives and regulators, as well as a new SEC proposal aimed at simplifying registration rules for certain digital asset offerings. This combination created an ideal scenario for crypto enthusiasts, resulting in a rapid price increase.
According to CoinGlass's liquidation panel, $1.14 billion in short positions were liquidated across the cryptocurrency market within just one hour, with Bitcoin alone accounting for $677.64 million of those liquidations. Following this upward movement, crypto-related stocks also saw gains, with Strategy rising nearly 12%, Coinbase increasing by 9%, and both Circle and BitMine gaining approximately 9-10% on the day.
Market Predictions Adjust Rapidly
By Wednesday afternoon, those figures had nearly equalized, with 51.9% predicting a drop to $55,000 and 48.1% anticipating a rise to $84,000.
This significant change isn’t limited to Myriad. On Polymarket, the leading Bitcoin price market for 2026 was reflecting a 56% probability that Bitcoin would hit $55,000 before the end of the year, while only 51% expected it to reach $75,000 as recently as last week.
On Kalshi, traders were even more conservative, assigning a 54% chance of Bitcoin surpassing $67,500 in August and only a 31% chance of hitting $70,000—both levels that Bitcoin surpassed on Wednesday.
The rapid adjustment in predictions illustrates how unprepared many were for this sudden 7% surge. Year-end projections remained largely unchanged. Prediction markets are experiencing record volumes as traders seek to hedge their real investments, making the Myriad shift more of a reflection of who got squeezed rather than a true forecast.
The next significant threshold for Bitcoin is $70,284, which marks the lower boundary of a resistance zone on its chart. A daily close above this level could pave the way towards $73,245; conversely, falling below $68,000 would push Bitcoin back into the trading range it has occupied since June.