XRP poised for biggest weekly gain in 21 months as Treasury buyback boosts sentiment

XRP is on pace for its strongest weekly performance since late 2024, riding a surge fueled by the US Treasury’s decision to double the size of its long-term bond buyback operations. The token climbed to intraday levels between $1.30 and $1.60 during the rally, a sharp reversal from the sub-$1 zone where it had been languishing.

Weekly gains are estimated somewhere between 30% and 67%, depending on the entry point, with a single-day pop of roughly 10.4% on August 20 doing much of the heavy lifting.

What the Treasury actually did

On August 19, the US Treasury announced it would expand its liquidity-support buybacks for nominal coupon securities from $2 billion to a minimum of $4 billion per operation, effective September 9. In practical terms, the government is purchasing its own longer-dated bonds at a faster clip, pulling them off the market and pushing their prices up.

When bond prices rise, yields fall. And fall they did. The 30-year Treasury yield retreated from a 19-year high of 5.337%, a level that had been making equity and crypto investors deeply uncomfortable for weeks.

Market participants quickly labeled the move “QE Lite,” a nod to the Federal Reserve’s old quantitative easing playbook. The mechanism is different (the Treasury buying its own debt rather than the Fed expanding its balance sheet), but the end result rhymes: more liquidity sloshing around the system, lower long-term borrowing costs, and a green light for risk assets. Traders also described the dynamic as “curve control,” since the buybacks effectively cap how high long-end yields can climb without the Fed having to formally intervene.

A record short squeeze amplified the move

More than $3 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated during the surge, with Bitcoin shorts alone accounting for roughly $2.75 billion of that total. Bitcoin itself powered past the $68,000 mark, dragging the broader altcoin complex along for the ride.

The Fear & Greed Index swung from cautious territory toward neutral and greed as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP all posted sharp gains in quick succession.

Whales and ETFs are stacking

Whale accumulation of XRP accelerated during the rally, with large holders adding to positions rather than selling into strength. ETF holdings of XRP also approached nearly 1 billion tokens, a figure that underscores growing institutional appetite for the asset beyond the typical retail speculation.

Large wallets were reportedly accumulating XRP while it was still trading near $0.99, positioning ahead of a catalyst that hadn’t yet materialized.

What this means going forward

The Treasury’s buyback expansion is not a one-time event. The new $4 billion minimum per operation takes effect September 9, meaning the liquidity injection becomes a recurring feature of the market landscape rather than a single shot of adrenaline.

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