- Bitcoin briefly traded above $81,000 on Aug. 25, its first move above $80,000 since May, before settling near $79,000.
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded about $1.9 billion in net inflows last week, the strongest weekly total since October 2025.
- The rally followed the U.S. Treasury plan to at least double long-dated bond buybacks to $4 billion per operation.
- CryptoQuant’s Bull Score jumped to 80, its highest reading since October 2025.
- Analysts described the rebound as a catch-up trade and said it is too early to call a new bull market.
Bitcoin briefly reclaimed the $80,000 level on Tuesday for the first time since May, trading as high as $81,240.68 before profit-taking pulled the price back toward $79,000 in Wednesday’s Asian session, according to CNBC and CoinDesk.
The move capped a sharp seven-day advance of roughly 23% to 25%, one of bitcoin’s strongest weekly dollar gains of the cycle. Ether held weekly gains near 29% even as it slipped to just under $2,465, while XRP remained up almost 45% on the week after a more than 4% pullback, CoinDesk reported.
Institutional demand returned alongside the price rebound. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs drew about $1.9 billion in net inflows last week, their largest weekly haul since October 2025, The Block’s analysis of SoSoValue data showed. Combined bitcoin and ether ETF trading volume more than tripled to $29 billion. The streak continued into this week: funds added another $314.37 million on Tuesday, lifting August inflows to $3.03 billion, Cointelegraph reported, citing SoSoValue.
The rally started after the U.S. Treasury announced it would at least double liquidity-support buybacks of longer-dated nominal Treasuries, from a $2 billion maximum per operation to at least $4 billion, effective Sept. 9 through Nov. 4. Lower long-end yields and a weaker dollar revived demand for risk assets. A short squeeze amplified the move: more than $4 billion in bearish crypto positions were liquidated as prices rose, per CNBC.
On-chain and market gauges also flipped. CryptoQuant’s Bull Score surged from 30 to 80, its highest since Oct. 6, 2025, when bitcoin traded near $124,000, with eight of 10 indicators now bullish, CoinDesk reported. Spot and futures demand expanded together for the first time since early October 2025, the firm said.
Analysts remain cautious. In comments to The Block, Presto Research associate researcher Min Jung said: “While it’s too early to call this a full-blown bull market, the move above $80,000 and the ETF inflows look like a catch-up trade since bitcoin has been lagging other risk assets for a while now.” Sticky inflation, Friday’s Jackson Hole remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, and coming U.S. PCE and GDP data remain near-term tests for whether $80,000 holds.
