Bitcoin rises above $68,000 for first time since June as whales resume buying

Bitcoin BTC climbed above $68,000 on Wednesday as lower Treasury yields and renewed buying by large holders offered support to the cryptocurrency after months of weakness.

Bitcoin gained about 5% over 24 hours to trade at $68,458, according to CoinGecko, reaching the level for the first time since June.

The move came after the US Treasury announced plans to at least double the size of its bond buyback operations to $4 billion or more per operation.

The announcement sent the 30-year Treasury yield down about eight basis points to 5.2%, with the 10-year yield also declining.

Bitcoin whales return to accumulation

Bitcoin has struggled in recent months, falling roughly 50% from its October record of $126,200 and losing retail participation as crypto funds recorded outflows.

However, data from CryptoQuant suggests large holders have started buying again.

Large Bitcoin holders accumulated about 43,000 tokens over the past 60 days, worth approximately $2.75 billion at current prices. CryptoQuant's calculation excludes exchanges and mining pools.

The accumulation began after Bitcoin moved toward $60,000, according to the data.

Smaller holders, known as dolphins, have also increased their balances.

Glassnode data points to buying among several groups of investors.

Holders with between 100 and 1,000 Bitcoin have increased their purchases, while investors holding more than 10,000 Bitcoin, described as "humpbacks," have also been accumulating.

Glassnode's Sean Rose said the data shows "renewed buying across all cohorts since late July."

The trend could provide a signal that larger investors are finding current prices attractive after the prolonged decline.

The renewed accumulation comes as Bitcoin's largest corporate buyer, Strategy, has shifted away from its previous pattern of buying the cryptocurrency.

BlackRock calls Bitcoin's decline a positioning correction

BlackRock has maintained its longer-term Bitcoin investment thesis despite the cryptocurrency's steep decline and continued outflows from spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

In a recent report, the asset manager described Bitcoin's roughly 50% decline from its October 2025 peak as a "positioning correction rather than a change in its investment case."

BlackRock attributed the move below $60,000 to cascading liquidations following a period of heavy leverage in Bitcoin derivatives.

Open interest in Bitcoin derivatives exceeded $90 billion in early October as speculative positioning increased.

According to BlackRock, a macro-driven risk-off event triggered large-scale deleveraging across crypto and precious metals, pushing Bitcoin to cycle lows below $60,000 by June 2026.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust recorded $78.9 million in net outflows in the week through August 14, while combined outflows across all spot Bitcoin ETF products reached $267.2 million.

Bitcoin's risk correlation could decline

BlackRock expects Bitcoin's correlation with traditional risk assets to decline as speculative excess is removed from the market.

The asset manager said Bitcoin has historically recovered following major political and macroeconomic disruptions.

It noted that the cryptocurrency outperformed both the S&P 500 and gold in the weeks and months following several shocks in recent years.

Bitcoin has also delivered positive returns following the onset of the US-Iran conflict in 2026, according to BlackRock.

However, Bitcoin remains more volatile than traditional assets.

Its 12-month realized volatility is around 40%, compared with 26% for gold and 12% for the S&P 500.

Its rolling six-month correlation with the S&P 500, based on a 10-year average, is 0.18, compared with 0.06 for gold.

BlackRock said Bitcoin's investment case increasingly resembles gold's role as a potential global monetary alternative and hedge against inflation, geopolitical disruption and declining confidence in fiat currencies.