Bitcoin rallied as Treasury bond buybacks fueled the “not-QE” trade, while Metaplanet expanded to the US and Cypherpunk made a $33 million Zcash mining bet.
Bitcoin and the broader digital asset market got a taste of “not-QE” this week — and liked it.
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) jumped more than 23% toward $79,000 and Ether’s price crossed $2,400 after the US Treasury moved to double certain long-dated bond buybacks, adding fuel to an increasingly important question for digital asset markets. If Washington keeps finding new ways to support liquidity without technically embarking on quantitative easing, could Bitcoin and other risk assets become some of the biggest beneficiaries?
That question is already shaping business decisions across crypto. Standard Chartered sees Bitcoin heading toward $100,000, Metaplanet is taking its Bitcoin treasury strategy to the US and Cypherpunk Technologies is making a $33 million bet on Zcash mining.
Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick said Bitcoin could reach $100,000 by year-end as the US Treasury doubles long-end bond buybacks, a move he described as “exactly the type of thing Bitcoin loves.”
Kendrick said in a client note that BTC’s key technical level is $65,500 and breaking above it could confirm the cycle low is in. He cited Wednesday’s Treasury plan to at least double buyback operations for 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year coupons. Long-dated yields fell, and Bitcoin’s price immediately climbed more than 6% to nearly $69,000, its highest since early June, per CoinMarketCap.
The expanded program runs Sept. 9 through Nov. 4. Kendrick argues Bitcoin tends to benefit from government liquidity interventions and its fixed supply resists monetary debasement. The call still depends on BTC holding above $65,500. Without that, the cycle low cannot be confirmed.
Metaplanet plans to take a controlling stake in Nasdaq-listed Super League Enterprise, expanding its Bitcoin treasury strategy to the US.
The Tokyo firm will contribute 2,100 BTC and $2.5 million in cash to Super League, which will be renamed Superplanet. That BTC, worth roughly $145 million, is under 5% of Metaplanet’s 43,000 holdings and comes from existing treasury, not new purchases. CEO Simon Gerovich said the structure gives two capital-raising avenues: Superplanet in US markets and Metaplanet in Japan. Shares of Super League surged over 50% on the news.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to shareholder approval and customary conditions.
Cypherpunk Technologies is expanding into Zcash (ZEC) mining after acquiring a fleet from Winklevoss Capital in a $33.33 million equity deal, giving the publicly traded firm roughly 18% of the network’s hashrate.
The mining operation is already online at US facilities, producing about 4.2 GSol/s, or roughly 18% of Zcash’s current hashrate. Cypherpunk also holds 323,394 ZEC, about 1.9% of circulating supply, and targets 5% ownership. It has pitched Zcash mining as offering more attractive economics than Bitcoin mining or AI data center workloads.
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