Bitcoin slips from $80K as gold retreats with falling US bond yields

Bitcoin dipped below $80,000 on August 25 after briefly touching $81,237, its highest price since mid-May. The pullback came in lockstep with gold retreating from a three-month peak near $4,677 per ounce, as falling US bond yields sent mixed signals to investors positioning in scarce assets.

Even with the intraday stumble, Bitcoin is still up roughly 28% for the month. That makes August 2026 its best monthly performance since November 2024.

The Treasury’s buyback gambit

The catalyst behind the yield decline traces back to August 19, when the US Treasury said it would at least double its liquidity-support buybacks of long-dated bonds. The program jumps from $2 billion to a minimum of $4 billion per operation, effective September 9.

The 10-year Treasury yield settled near 4.71-4.72% in the aftermath, a modest but meaningful decline that weakened the dollar and initially lifted both Bitcoin and gold.

The broader fiscal backdrop makes the Treasury’s move more than routine plumbing. US national debt now exceeds $40 trillion. The buyback expansion is partly a liquidity measure and partly a confidence exercise, signaling that Washington is willing to intervene when the long end of the curve gets unruly.

ETF inflows and the institutional bid

Spot Bitcoin ETFs absorbed nearly $2 billion in inflows over recent sessions, a pace that coincided with a wave of short liquidations across crypto derivatives markets.

Those liquidations matter because they create a feedback loop. When short sellers get forced out of positions, they have to buy Bitcoin to close their trades, which pushes prices higher, which forces more shorts to cover.

Bitcoin is increasingly behaving like a hard asset rather than a tech stock proxy, with its correlation with gold rising. President Trump’s recent push for clearer regulatory definitions around digital assets has also contributed to the favorable environment, translating directly into higher inflows.

How far from the peak

Bitcoin’s all-time high sits at approximately $126,000, reached in October 2025. At current levels around $80,300, the price is roughly 36% below that record.

The sustainability of Bitcoin’s rally depends heavily on what happens when the Treasury’s expanded buyback program officially kicks off on September 9. If the operations successfully suppress long-term yields and further weaken the dollar, the conditions that fueled August’s gains should persist.

One variable worth watching is the dollar index, which has been trending lower alongside yields. The Treasury is easing financial conditions through buybacks while the Fed has maintained a cautious stance, a tension that markets will eventually force to a resolution.

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