Hayes Bets on Crypto Bull Run as Treasury Expands Buybacks

U.S. Treasury debt buybacks are designed to improve trading in older, less-liquid securities and are not the same as Federal Reserve quantitative easing. Still, BitMEX co-founder and Maelstrom chief investment officer Arthur Hayes argues the program can ease financial conditions by supporting long-dated bond prices and restraining yields. He sees sovereign balance-sheet management, rather than crypto-specific catalysts, as the main force behind Bitcoin’s next move, with easier dollar liquidity favoring scarce assets.

On Aug. 19, the Treasury said it would raise the cap on long-end liquidity-support buybacks from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation from Sept. 9 through Nov. 4. The quarterly plan also authorizes $38 billion of liquidity-support purchases and $25 billion of short-maturity cash-management buybacks. Bitcoin subsequently climbed above $80,000 and reached an intraday high near $81,000. Hayes said Maelstrom was at “maximum risk,” citing exposure to BTC, ETH, ENA and ETHFI.