Syz the moment

BTC gained 25.1% over the month, climbing from $62,794 to $78,545. It was Bitcoin’s third-best August on record, with the price surging as much as 30% from its monthly low to high. The fuel behind the rally? A brutal short squeeze. Between August 17 and 21, traders suffered $5.8 billion in liquidations. August 19 alone accounted for $2.7 billion in short liquidations—the largest single-day short wipeout on record. Total liquidations for the month reached $12.65 billion. But history now offers a warning: whenever Bitcoin has closed both July and August in positive territory, September has finished in the red. Momentum is powerful. Seasonality says caution. September could be the real test. Source: Bull Theory

The 10-year JGB yield has hit 3% for the first time since 1996—doubling from roughly 1.5% in just 12 months. But the bigger story is who now sets the price. Foreign investors account for around 66% of monthly JGB trading volume, up from only 12% in 2009, as the Bank of Japan retreats from negative rates and massive bond purchases. Markets are responding: • A 92% probability of a BOJ rate hike by September • An October increase already more than fully priced in • Record debt-servicing costs of ¥36.6 trillion—around $230 billion—budgeted for the next fiscal year, up 17% For decades, the BOJ dominated Japan’s bond market. Now, market forces are taking control—and the cost of financing the world’s most indebted major economy is rising fast. Investors, not the BOJ, are increasingly setting the price of Japanese debt. Source: Global Markets Investor, Bloomberg

Source. Bloomberg

Source: zerohedge

The Bitcoin treasury company picked up 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million in the week to August 30, at an average of $80,318 apiece, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That takes its stack to 845,050 BTC, bought for $63.73 billion at an average of $75,412. It paid for the purchase by issuing stock. Strategy sold 4,531,421 MSTR shares through its at-the-market programme over the same week, raising $602.8 million net of commissions. Bitcoin took $369.7 million of that, STRC buybacks $151.8 million, dividends on the same preferred stock $50.7 million, and $30 million went into its USD Cash account. This is the biggest purchase since May 18th. Strategy sold 6,948 BTC for roughly $432.5 million between May and August, working out at about $62,250 a coin. It has now bought back at $80,318, roughly 29% higher, leaving it 2,345 BTC lighter than before the selling started, with about $63 million of the difference retained in cash... Source: zerohedge

Source: Global_Macro

Source: Topdown Charts, LSEG

Scott Bessent said a disorderly, sharp decline in the yen could set off forced unwinds of major trading positions. He warned this could spread stress across global markets, not just Japan. The end result, he said, would be higher borrowing costs for US households and businesses. This warning comes in a letter responding to Senator Elizabeth Warren, who questioned the US and Japan's joint intervention to defend the yen last month. The yen is already weakening again, sliding back toward 160 per dollar. That is the same level that triggered the original intervention just weeks ago. Bessent also pointed to Argentina, saying the Treasury used the same emergency fund last year to stop a currency crisis there before it spread further. He says Acting early is cheaper than waiting for a full blown crisis. If the Treasury Secretary himself is this concerned about the fallout, the risk here is bigger than markets are currently pricing in. Source: Bull Theory