Bitcoin Holds Near $78K as Strategy Resumes BTC Buying

Oil prices climbed sharply Monday after renewed U.S.-Iran military strikes raised concerns about disruptions to crude supplies, while President Donald Trump again claimed the conflict had delivered a victory.

Rate-Hike Expectations Continue to Rise

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh appeared together over the weekend as they traveled to the G20 conference in Asheville, North Carolina, potentially signaling a united front on economic policy.

Bessent and the Treasury Department have spent the past two weeks trying to push longer-term borrowing costs lower through public comments. Warsh, however, said Friday that the Federal Reserve still needs to make further progress in bringing inflation under control, prompting Treasury yields to rise across maturities.

The pressure continued Monday. The 30-year Treasury yield climbed another 5.2 basis points to 5.26%, while the 10-year yield gained 4.1 basis points to 4.763%, its highest level in three years.

Expectations for higher short-term rates have also strengthened. CME FedWatch data showed a 64% probability of a Fed move at the September meeting, up from 57% on Friday and roughly 40% before Warsh’s Jackson Hole remarks.

By December, markets were assigning about a 90% probability to at least one rate hike by the end of 2026. The odds of cumulative increases totaling 75 basis points were close to 10%.

Trump Says Iran Is a “Failed Nation”

Crude prices surged following overnight attacks involving Iran, with Trump saying Monday that Iran was now a “failed nation” in a post on Truth Social.

Trump argued that Iran had lost much of its military capability and was facing severe economic and political problems. His latest statement follows several previous instances in which the U.S. president has claimed success in the conflict.

Oil markets reacted strongly to the renewed fighting. Brent crude rose 5.9% to $91.18 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gained 3.7% to $86.47.

WTI futures were also trading more than 3% higher on the day, with the front-month contract recently around $86.63. Renewed concerns about tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz contributed to the move higher.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, remained relatively resilient, trading near $78,400 and up about 1% from midnight levels.

Strategy Resumes Bitcoin Purchases

Strategy made its first bitcoin acquisition since late June, purchasing 4,603 BTC last week for approximately $369.7 million. The company paid an average of $80,318 per bitcoin.

The purchases were financed through roughly $602.8 million in common-stock sales, according to a Monday announcement. Strategy allocated another $151.8 million toward repurchasing its STRC preferred shares, with additional funds added to its cash reserves.

Following the latest purchase, the company holds 845,050 BTC acquired for approximately $63.73 billion. Its average purchase price stands at about $75,412 per bitcoin.

Strategy shares were up 1.65% in premarket trading as bitcoin hovered around $78,400.

Ether Forms a Golden Cross

Ether’s daily chart has produced a golden cross, a technical formation generally viewed as a bullish long-term signal.

The pattern occurs when an asset’s 50-day simple moving average rises above its 200-day average, indicating that shorter-term price momentum has strengthened relative to the longer-term trend.

Although traders often interpret a golden cross as a sign of potential sustained upside, the indicator does not guarantee that prices will continue higher.

BUIDL Returns to the Top of Tokenized Treasuries

BlackRock’s BUIDL has regained its position as the largest tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, with approximately $2.8 billion in assets, according to Token Terminal. Circle’s USYC is at a similar level, meaning the two are effectively tied when rounded.

Tokenized Treasury products hold short-term U.S. government debt while issuing blockchain-based tokens representing ownership interests. The structure allows crypto companies to keep capital on-chain while earning yield. Securitize provides tokenization and transfer-agent services for BUIDL.

BUIDL surpassed $3 billion in early 2025 before losing more than $1 billion. Its assets later recovered, fell toward $1.5 billion around the middle of 2026 and then climbed again through August.

USYC followed the opposite trajectory, steadily increasing and moving ahead of BUIDL earlier in 2026.

The tokenized Treasury market has expanded by more than 15,000% since 2024 and has remained near $15 billion despite the recent crypto-market decline. Ondo’s USDY and Franklin Templeton’s iBENJI trail the two leading funds at approximately $2.1 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.

Yen Weakness Adds Pressure to Crypto

Bessent said recent movements in the Japanese yen remained “pretty well contained” and did not warrant coordinated U.S.-Japan intervention similar to last month.

He had warned Friday that a disorderly yen market could spill over into higher U.S. interest rates.

The yen is frequently used to finance investments in U.S. stocks and Treasury securities. Significant volatility in the currency could therefore contribute to higher bond yields and tighter financial conditions, creating additional pressure for risk assets such as bitcoin.

Bitcoin traded just below $78,000 during Asian hours Monday, down less than 1% over 24 hours while remaining about 1% higher on the week.

Solana and Dogecoin led declines among major cryptocurrencies, falling roughly 3% each, while Hyperliquid and XRP also moved lower. Ether, BNB, Zcash and Tron remained within about 2% of unchanged.

The weekly performance remained mixed, with Solana up around 8% while Dogecoin was down approximately 10%.

The yen moved above 160 per dollar in Tokyo, a level closely monitored by currency traders. Some strategists see intervention risks increasing around 161, followed by the 162-163 range.

The dollar’s broad advance Friday was driven partly by expectations for higher U.S. interest rates following Warsh’s Jackson Hole comments. The resulting repricing in bond markets had previously contributed to institutional outflows from bitcoin ETFs during May and June.

Monday marks the final trading session of August. The month-end bitcoin ETF flow figures will provide a clearer indication of whether the cryptocurrency’s eight-session inflow streak survived the latest shift in interest-rate expectations.

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