- Bitcoin briefly touched $81,000 and is holding above the $80,000 level for the first time since May.
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $1.9 billion in net inflows last week, the strongest since October 2025.
- The rally was triggered by a U.S. Treasury decision to expand long-dated bond buybacks, leading to over $3 billion in short liquidations.
- Analysts view the move as a catch-up trade amid lagging performance versus other risk assets, not yet a full bull market.
Bitcoin (BTC) is holding above the $80,000 level after briefly reaching a local high of $81,000 on Monday, extending a sharp rally that saw the cryptocurrency gain roughly 24% last week from below $63,000, according to The Block.
The advance was backed by robust institutional demand, with U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracting about $1.9 billion in net inflows during the week ending August 22 — the largest weekly total since October 2025 — as The Block reported based on SoSoValue data. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for the majority of the inflows, while trading volumes more than tripled and assets under management rose to around $96 billion.
The key catalyst was the U.S. Treasury’s move to at least double its buybacks of long-dated bonds, which eased yields, weakened the dollar, and revived the debasement trade. This cracked Bitcoin’s prior trading range and triggered more than $3 billion in short liquidations within 24 hours, according to a CoinDesk markets report.
“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,” said Min Jung, associate researcher at Presto Research, in comments to The Block.
Ethereum also participated strongly, with spot ETH ETFs drawing roughly $697 million in the same week. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has shifted into “Extreme Greed” territory. However, analysts caution that sticky inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, and potential profit-taking could test the sustainability of the rally as markets eye the Jackson Hole Symposium and upcoming economic data.
