XRP is on track for its strongest weekly advance since late 2024. The gain stands at more than 50% over seven days, driven by a wager among traders that an expanded U.S. Treasury debt-buyback program will replicate the liquidity effects of formal yield curve control.
No crypto-native catalyst sparked the rally. It pushed XRP back above $1.60 for the first time since February 2026. The trigger was an August 19 Treasury announcement that the government would double its buyback operations for nominal coupon securities, from $2 billion to a minimum of $4 billion per operation. That takes effect September 9 and runs through November 4.
XRP had been trading below $1 before the move. The weekly gain ran between 30% and 67% depending on entry point, according to CryptoBriefing. Watcher.guru, citing CoinGecko data, put the seven-day return at more than 56%.
August 20 saw the sharpest single-day jump. XRP climbed roughly 10.4% in 24 hours. A broader crypto rally wiped out over $3 billion in short positions that same session. CoinGlass data cited by FXStreet showed 172,642 traders liquidated in one day, totaling more than $2.99 billion across the market. Bitcoin shorts alone accounted for about $2.75 billion, per CryptoBriefing.
For XRP, the liquidations were smaller. They also ran in one direction. Over 84% of XRP positions liquidated were long, totaling $19.43 million, according to CoinGlass data referenced by FXStreet.
The Treasury buyback program is not quantitative easing. It is not formal yield curve control. The Federal Reserve has not intervened. What the buybacks do is put a floor under bond prices by creating a recurring buyer of long-duration paper, capping how high long-end yields can climb without the Fed stepping in. Traders have labeled the dynamic “QE Lite.”
The 30-year Treasury yield retreated from a 19-year high of 5.337% after the announcement, CryptoBriefing reported. That is the mechanism traders are betting on. Lower long-end yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding risk assets.
Gautam Chhugani, a strategist at Bernstein, noted that Bitcoin has historically reacted positively to liquidity expansion. He told Watcher.guru that this year’s apathy toward crypto markets reflected tighter conditions following the Iran conflict, rising inflation risks, and capital concentration in AI and semiconductor trades.
Traders, as ever, disagree on what comes next.
XRP’s relative strength index sat at 63 on August 20. That puts it near overbought territory. The MACD was above zero, FXStreet noted. The 50-day exponential moving average was $1.076; the 200-day was $1.338.
Whale accumulation picked up during the rally. Large holders added to positions rather than selling into strength, CryptoBriefing reported. ETF holdings of XRP approached nearly 1 billion tokens.
The Treasury’s expanded buyback operations do not take effect until September 9. Until then, the rally runs on positioning and expectations, not on buybacks that have actually been executed.
