Fed begins first balance-sheet expansion since 2020, buying $27.6 billion in T-bills over three weeks

The Fed is set to expand its balance sheet for the first time since 2020 via $27.6B of short-dated Treasury purchases over three weeks, signaling a marginal easing in dollar liquidity conditions. This typically lowers real-rate and liquidity stress expectations, improving the backdrop for high-beta risk assets. Crypto—especially BTC—tends to be highly sensitive to shifts in systemic liquidity, so the announcement is macro-relevant in the near term.