US may buy back $34 billion of its own debt in September

The US Department of the Treasury is poised to buy back potentially more than $34 billion of its own government bonds in September. Up to $14.5 billion could be deployed next week alone, with the programme doubling in size on 9 September. The measure comes at a time when the yield on thirty-year government bonds is near a twenty-year high and the annual interest costs of the US government have surpassed the $1 trillion mark.

In brief:

• The US Department of the Treasury could buy back up to $34 billion in government bonds in September.
• Treasury Secretary Bessent says the goal is liquidity support, not steering yield levels.
• According to Coinbureau, the previous time the programme was expanded, Bitcoin rose 22% in one week.

Bessent: goal is liquidity, not rate control

The buyback programme relies on so-called liquidity support, through which the department repurchases government bonds with various maturities from market participants. The tentative schedule published on 5 August 2026 shows that two so-called cash management operations are also planned for September, with a maximum deployment of $12.5 billion each.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responds cautiously to speculation that the government is trying to push down yields through this programme. “I have not bought anything yet,” Bessent said, adding that the sole aim is to improve liquidity in the bond market. The thirty-year yield nevertheless stands at its highest level in two decades, increasing the pressure on government finances.

Bitcoin previously responded strongly to programme expansion

Investors are also watching for possible effects on risk assets such as Bitcoin. Coinbureau notes that the previous time the buyback programme was expanded, Bitcoin rose 22% in one week. At the moment, Bitcoin is trading around $79.800, virtually unchanged over the past 24 hours.

Whether the current expansion will have similar effects is uncertain. The link between the department’s liquidity operations and the Bitcoin price has not been proven, and Bessent himself states that the programme does not serve a monetary policy purpose. Still, crypto investors are monitoring developments closely, partly because Bitcoin ETFs recently saw large inflows and market sentiment remains sensitive to macroeconomic signals.