BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes urged investors not to avoid risk assets such as Bitcoin, gold, and equities following a decision by the US Treasury to double its debt buyback program, according to a recent interview on Crypto Banter with host Ran Neuner. Hayes asserted that government interventions designed to cap bond yields create a continuous liquidity engine that heavily favors scarce assets over cash.
The remarks follow a policy move by the US Treasury under Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to expand long-term debt buybacks. The intervention arrived after yields on 10-year US Treasury notes tested the 5% threshold, a level widely viewed by market participants as critical for the long-term sustainability of national debt. By purchasing long-dated debt, the Treasury effectively capped yields and injected liquidity into the broader financial system, a mechanism drawing direct historical comparisons to past actions under former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the Bank of Japan’s yield curve control experiments.
How Yield Curve Control Drives Capital into Scarce Assets
When central banks or government treasuries cap bond yields without a fixed target through indirect market intervention, private capital shifts away from fixed-income products and into scarce alternatives. According to Hayes, this dynamic underpins the current surges across multiple asset classes. “You’re an idiot if you’re not betting on equities, gold, Bitcoin, and the market,” Hayes stated during the interview, explicitly linking the Treasury’s debt management strategy to liquidity-driven market rallies.
Hayes described the policy mechanism as the continuation of a “Yellen-Put” style intervention, where authorities prioritize debt-servicing capacity over the natural price discovery of bond yields. As public debt and balance sheets expand to manage borrowing costs, investors flee depreciating fiat currency for assets with fixed or limited supplies. “The balance sheet grows infinitely because the market says, ‘Oh, you want to cap at 5%? No problem. Here is all this debt. I want equities, I want gold, I want Bitcoin,'” Hayes explained.
Market Response and Investor Positioning
The immediate reaction across financial markets mirrored Hayes’s structural thesis. Following the Treasury’s announcement, the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes declined, Bitcoin broke past key moving averages near the $70,000 threshold, traditional equities climbed higher, and various altcoins posted notable gains.
While part of Bitcoin’s upward momentum stemmed from a short squeeze, Hayes argued that the broader trend reflects a fundamental shift in macroeconomic policy. With the Federal Reserve maintaining stable interest rates to support Treasury operations and utilizing extended repo facilities, government entities are aligning to support asset prices and ensure liquidity.
Hayes confirmed that he maintains a risk-on posture in his personal portfolio, holding substantial allocations in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and ecosystem projects such as Ethery. He warned that holding cash or remaining underweight in scarce assets carries significantly higher risk in an environment where authorities rely on intervention and debt monetization to stabilize financial markets.
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