- Bitcoin briefly topped $81,000 this week, its highest level since May, before easing near $79,000.
- U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs took in $314 million on Tuesday and about $232 million on Wednesday, lifting August inflows above $3 billion.
- CryptoQuant’s Bull Score jumped from 30 to 80 in a week; a close above the $83,100 365-day moving average is still needed for official confirmation.
- Bernstein’s base case sees bitcoin at $150,000 by mid-2027 and about $300,000 in 2029.
Bitcoin is consolidating near $79,000 after a sharp weekly advance that briefly pushed the cryptocurrency above $81,000 for the first time since May, as U.S. spot exchange-traded funds extended a multi-day inflow streak and onchain analytics firm CryptoQuant said the market has entered the early phase of a new bull cycle.
The largest cryptocurrency rallied more than 23% over seven days from levels below $65,000, according to CoinDesk, before traders took profits. The move was tied to two macro catalysts cited by CryptoQuant in coverage by The Block: the U.S. Treasury’s plan to double long-term government bond buybacks to at least $4 billion per operation from Sept. 9, and comments from President Donald Trump suggesting the U.S. government may consider buying bitcoin.
Institutional demand remained visible even as price cooled. U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $314.37 million in net inflows on Tuesday, a seventh consecutive session, lifting August totals to $3.03 billion, Cointelegraph reported citing SoSoValue. Combined net assets stood at $99.05 billion. On Wednesday the funds added about $232 million, stretching the streak to eight days and bringing inflows over that run to roughly $2.8 billion, according to CoinDesk live updates. BlackRock’s IBIT absorbed the bulk of Tuesday’s flow.
CryptoQuant said its Bull Score surged from 30 to 80 in one week, the strongest reading since Oct. 6, 2025, when bitcoin traded around $124,000, with eight of 10 tracked metrics flashing bullish. The firm still treats a close above the 365-day moving average, now near $83,100, as the line for an “official” confirmation. “A decisive break above $83,000 would confirm the new bull market; until then, that level is likely to act as initial resistance, with the possibility of an early bull market correction,” the firm said in the The Block report.
Wall Street research firm Bernstein separately argued the rebound fits a longer “debasement trade.” In its base case, bitcoin returns to about $125,000 by the end of 2026, reaches a new all-time high of $150,000 by mid-2027, and peaks near $300,000 in 2029, while a bull case extends to $200,000 by mid-2027 and $500,000 in 2029, The Block reported. The firm kept a longer-term target of about $1 million by 2033.
Near-term risks remain. CoinDesk noted falling futures open interest and a tilt toward short-term bearish flow after the vertical advance, while Pedro Fontes, a research analyst at Mercado Bitcoin, flagged $82,000 and $85,000 as the next resistance levels and said some consolidation would be natural. Year-to-date, spot bitcoin ETFs are still net negative by more than $2 billion despite August’s rebound.
