Bitcoin Near $77K as Stocks, Gold Rally Amid High Yields

Bitcoin traded around $77,000 on Aug. 21 after an intraday high near $79,461, U.S. stocks climbed and gold reached $4,617.50 per ounce as long-term Treasury yields remained elevated.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 104.12 points, the NYSE Composite added 194.68 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 517.84 points and the S&P 500 increased 32.83 points during Friday’s session. Bitcoin moved from about $62,653 earlier in the week to a seven-day peak near $79,461 before settling near $77,000.

The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield stood at about 5.273% on Friday. Investors cited persistent inflation, large federal deficits and rising interest costs on government debt as factors keeping long-term yields high. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a plan to expand purchases of longer-dated bonds, which briefly eased yields earlier in the week.

Financial stocks helped lead the advance, and Ross Stores rallied after reporting stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Shares of crypto-linked companies, including Coinbase, rose alongside bitcoin. Technology names lagged as higher long-term yields reduce the present value of future earnings for growth companies.

Derivatives markets showed concentrated activity as bitcoin’s price jumped. Combined futures open interest on major venues totaled about $20.37 billion, with Binance at roughly $10.92 billion and CME Group at about $9.45 billion. CME’s open interest rose about 11.34% in 24 hours and Binance’s increased about 4.64%. Some other exchanges recorded declines in open interest over the same period.

The rapid price advance coincided with large liquidations of leveraged short positions. Options open interest tilted toward calls, which made up about 59.53% of outstanding bitcoin options, while puts represented 40.47%. Calls accounted for about 54.31% of 24-hour options volume. Notable listed concentrations included December 2026 calls at $80,000 and $120,000 and September calls clustered at $70,000, $78,000, $82,000 and $100,000. Significant put positions appeared at $60,000 and $66,000.

One market measure placed the theoretical ‘‘max pain’’ level near $74,000 for the Aug. 22 options expiry, with other near-term levels around $69,000 on Aug. 23 and $66,000 on Aug. 28. Market participants were watching the Aug. 22 expiry as a potential near-term event.

U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded more than $1 billion in inflows for the week, providing an on‑ramp for institutional and retail investors to gain exposure to bitcoin through brokerage accounts.

Precious metals also gained. Gold closed at $4,617.50 per ounce, up about 2.15% on the day, and silver traded at $69.52, up about 1.92%. Platinum and palladium rose about 2.85% and 1.29%, respectively. A softer dollar accompanied the metals rally.

Items to watch in the coming days included comments by Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole symposium, further Treasury yield moves after the buyback announcement, the Aug. 22 bitcoin options expiry and developments in oil markets and tensions involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.