Bitcoin Slips as 10-Year Treasury Yield Tops 5%

Wednesday saw bitcoin slip at the same time as U.S. Treasury yields jumped; the 10-year yield moved above 5%, a level last touched in 2007.

In New York on Wednesday afternoon, bitcoin was off 2% on a 24-hour basis, changing hands at $84,357.

Earlier in the week, the currency had surged as investors poured into exchange-traded funds, touching nearly $87,330 at one stage.

JUST IN: U.S. Treasury Department to buy back up to $6 billion in longer-term debt tomorrow.

Buy Bitcoin

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) September 23, 2026

The advance has since cooled. The slide deepened on Wednesday afternoon at about the time the U.S. Treasury said it would spend up to $6 billion on longer-maturity government debt on Thursday.

In the past, bitcoin gained from the Treasury Department's buyback announcement, enjoying its best run in months; this time it dropped instead.

Wednesday's climb took the 10-year yield above 5% for the first time in 19 years, after September flash PMI figures came in well ahead of expectations and raised the composite index to a five-year high.

Inflation readings compounded the strain: input prices in both manufacturing and services reached their steepest since October 2022, led by fuel and transportation, and wages kept pushing higher.

Higher yields are usually a headwind for bitcoin. When safe government bonds pay 5%, holding an asset that produces no income grows costlier.

Rising rates often boost the dollar as well, curbing demand for risk-on holdings. Bitcoin has pulled back multiple times this year whenever inflation concerns pushed yields higher, moves frequently worsened by ETF withdrawals and forced sales from leveraged traders.