Bitcoin’s strongest weekly advance since March 2023 pushed the asset close to $80,000, but analysts said further gains may depend on easing US bond yields, continued spot ETF demand, and progress on the CLARITY Act.

Can Bitcoin hold near $80,000 after its strongest rally since 2023?

Bitcoin (BTC) traded near $79,800 on Aug. 24 after climbing from below $64,000 on Aug. 19. The cryptocurrency reached approximately $79,550 during the rally, its highest level since May.

The gain amounted to roughly 24% over the week, according to Gadi Chait, investment manager at Xapo Bank, making it Bitcoin’s strongest weekly advance since March 2023.

US policy developments helped trigger the move. On Aug. 19, the US Treasury announced that it would at least double the maximum size of its liquidity-support buybacks for nominal Treasury securities with maturities of 10 to 30 years.

The operations will increase from a maximum of $2 billion to at least $4 billion each, beginning Sept. 9. Markets interpreted the decision as an effort to improve liquidity in long-dated government debt after yields reached levels that weighed on risk assets.

Bitcoin also benefited from renewed expectations for clearer US crypto rules after President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to advance the CLARITY Act. The proposed legislation remains subject to action in the Senate, where its progress could provide the market with another policy catalyst.

ETF inflows strengthened the Bitcoin rally

Chait said the sources of demand behind the rally were as important as the size of the price increase.

“Approximately $1.9 billion flowed into US spot Bitcoin ETFs, providing evidence of genuine investor demand, while record short liquidations added further momentum.”

US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded five consecutive trading days of inflows during the week ending Aug. 21. The approximately $1.9 billion total marked a sharp return of institutional demand after funds struggled to attract consistent capital earlier in the year.

The inflows also showed that forced buying in derivatives markets was not the rally’s only source of support. Traders holding leveraged short positions were liquidated as Bitcoin broke through resistance levels, creating additional market orders that accelerated the advance.

Justin d’Anethan, head of research at Arctic Digital, said changing expectations around US rates brought investors back to an asset that had underperformed for several months.

“In the case of Bitcoin, with pent-up demand and a multi-month underperformance, the trade wrote itself and algos along with sophisticated trading firms and asset managers piled back in.”

He said leveraged traders were caught on the wrong side of the breakout, producing what he described as the largest single-day short liquidation event. Profit-taking and selling from investors who had been waiting to exit could now produce a short-term pullback as the market absorbs the move.

Rising bond yields test the Treasury narrative

Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of crypto exchange BTSE, said enthusiasm surrounding the Treasury buybacks had cooled as bond yields began rising again.

“The size of these buyback operations is relatively small compared to the overall Treasuries market, which is over $30 trillion.”

Treasury buybacks are designed to support market liquidity by replacing older, less actively traded securities with newly issued debt. They do not amount to quantitative easing because the Treasury must finance its operations, while Federal Reserve asset purchases create central bank reserves.

Mei said the market would need to see whether the Treasury expands the program beyond the initial $4 billion maximum for each operation. Without an increase, the program’s effect on the broader bond market may remain limited.

D’Anethan viewed rates as the rally’s main driver, arguing that ETF flows, regulatory developments and large investor activity had failed to move Bitcoin substantially until expectations surrounding Treasury policy changed.

Chait said the macro shift also strengthened Bitcoin’s longer-term case as US government debt continued rising.

“As rising debt fuels concerns about potential currency debasement, its fixed supply and independence from any government or central bank become increasingly relevant.”

Bitcoin could reach $90,000 if US catalysts hold

Mei said Bitcoin could establish a range between $80,000 and $90,000 if the Treasury expands its buybacks and the CLARITY Act makes material progress by mid-September. A Federal Reserve rate cut or another form of monetary support could provide further upside, he added.

The scenario remains conditional because higher yields increase the relative appeal of government debt while raising borrowing costs across the financial system. A lack of new policy support or weakening ETF demand could therefore leave Bitcoin vulnerable after its rapid advance.

“Without further positive catalysts and sustained investor confidence, it’s also possible that Bitcoin could give back recent gains and fall again to the $70k mark,” Mei said.

The CLARITY Act provides another near-term US catalyst, although its passage is not guaranteed. Investors will be watching whether lawmakers move the bill forward and whether proposed rules translate into clearer conditions for exchanges, token issuers and institutional market participants.

Bitcoin charts point to a possible trend reversal

D’Anethan said bullish engulfing patterns had appeared on Bitcoin’s daily and weekly charts, while a similar monthly signal was developing but had not yet been confirmed by the candle’s close.

The patterns followed an extended period in which several momentum indicators remained in oversold territory. Their recovery may support a longer-term reversal, although the speed of the recent rally increases the possibility of consolidation or profit-taking.

Bitcoin’s immediate challenge is holding the area around $77,000 to $80,000 after reaching its three-month high. A sustained break above $80,000 would support Mei’s $80,000–$90,000 scenario, while a deeper retracement would bring $70,000 back into focus.

The mid-$60,000 range could become a broader accumulation area for long-term investors if Bitcoin fails to hold $70,000, according to d’Anethan. Near-term direction, however, will likely depend on bond yields, ETF demand and whether US policy developments produce concrete action after the initial rally.

Zcash price surged more than 70% over the past week to an eight-year high near $885 before retreating below $820, as Grayscale’s ETF conversion plan and an NU7 governance vote drew traders toward ZEC.

Zcash price pulls back after reaching $885

According to data from crypto.news, Zcash (ZEC) price traded near $820 at the time of writing after reaching approximately $885 earlier in the session, according to exchange data. The privacy coin gained more than 70% during the past seven days and reached its highest level since 2018.

The rally accelerated after ZEC cleared $562.50, which marked the upper boundary of its previous trading range on the daily chart. Buyers then pushed through successive levels at $625, $687.50, and $750.

ZEC moved as much as 77% above its August consolidation area near $500 before sellers emerged around $875. Its daily candle subsequently fell about 4%, with the price slipping from an opening level near $854 to approximately $820.

The retreat has not yet erased the wider breakout. ZEC remains above the former $750 resistance identified by Rand Group, which said the level would need to become support for another bullish wave to develop.

The daily Bull Bear Power reading stood at 376.58, showing that buying pressure remained elevated despite the pullback. However, the size of the indicator’s recent increase also reflects how far and quickly ZEC has moved away from its earlier range.

Grayscale ETF filing adds an institutional catalyst

The price advance followed Grayscale Investments’ latest amended registration statement for the Grayscale Zcash Trust.

Grayscale is seeking to convert the existing trust into an exchange-traded product expected to trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH. An accompanying filing said shares were anticipated to begin trading on or around August 25, subject to regulatory approvals.

The proposed structure would give eligible US investors exposure to ZEC through a regulated brokerage product without requiring them to hold the token directly. The registration statement does not mean the SEC has approved the conversion, and the planned listing date remains subject to completion of the regulatory process.

The filing also disclosed non-binding discussions involving DCG International Investments Ltd., a Digital Currency Group subsidiary. Under the potential transaction, the company could contribute about 200,000 ZEC to the trust in exchange for shares.

At the valuation cited when the amendment was reported, the proposed contribution was worth approximately $110 million. The filing describes the transaction as being under discussion, meaning it should not be treated as a completed ZEC purchase or confirmed capital allocation.

Grayscale reported that the trust had about $263.5 million in assets under management as of August 21. The proposed conversion would bring a privacy-focused crypto asset into the US spot ETF market, although Zcash continues to face regulatory and exchange-access risks linked to its privacy features.

NU7 vote follows the Ironwood snapshot

A separate Zcash-specific event may have added demand for shielded ZEC ahead of the rally. According to the NU7 vote announcement on the Zcash Community Forum, Valar Group and Project Tachyon scheduled an approximately 18-day coinholder vote beginning August 25.

Voting eligibility was based on spendable, shielded ZEC held in the Ironwood pool at mainnet block height 3,459,350. The snapshot was expected at approximately 19:00 UTC on August 24, after which holders could move their funds without losing their voting rights.

Voting is scheduled to close on September 14 at 19:00 UTC. The process requires at least 1 million eligible ZEC to meet its minimum participation threshold, while supported wallets allow holders to vote privately and publish only aggregated results.

The ballot will help determine the scope of the planned NU7 network upgrade, including possible changes to Zcash’s issuance schedule and block-production model. The snapshot may have encouraged some holders to transfer tokens into the Ironwood shielded pool, but available data does not establish how much of the price increase came directly from voting-related transfers.

Zcash price faces resistance at $875

The 4-hour chart shows that ZEC remains above the Bollinger Bands’ middle line near $803.35. Holding that level would keep the short-term breakout structure intact, while a sustained drop below it could expose the psychological $800 level.

ZEC’s 4-hour Relative Strength Index fell to 62.89 after previously moving into overbought territory. The indicator’s moving average remained higher at 72.14, suggesting that momentum has cooled as the price pulled back from its peak.

The first upside barrier sits between $870 and $875. The daily Murrey Math chart marks $875 as an extreme overshoot level, while the upper 4-hour Bollinger Band stands near $910.56.

A decisive close above $875 could allow buyers to test $910 and then $937.50. The latter is identified on the daily chart as a zone where the risk of a bearish reversal may increase.

On the downside, $812.50 is the first key level to monitor. ZEC was trading only slightly above that line at the time of the chart capture, making it the immediate test for buyers after the intraday reversal.

Below $812.50, the Bollinger midpoint near $803 and the former breakout level at $750 provide the next support areas. A fall below $750 would weaken the breakout and could open a deeper correction toward $696 and $687.50.

Liquidation clusters could increase ZEC volatility

CoinGlass’ 24-hour liquidation heatmap showed concentrated leveraged positions on both sides of ZEC’s market price.

The largest nearby upside liquidity cluster appeared around $872 to $874, matching the chart’s immediate resistance zone. Additional liquidation levels were visible around $882 to $886, which could attract price if ZEC regains upward momentum.

Below the market, a strong concentration appeared near $818 to $820, with further liquidity around $808 and $800. ZEC briefly moved toward these lower clusters during its late-session decline before rebounding above $817.

Liquidation heatmaps show where leveraged positions may face forced closure, but they do not predict which level the price will reach first. With ZEC trading between dense clusters near $800 and $875 after a weekly gain exceeding 70%, a sharp move in either direction could trigger another round of liquidations.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is defending the privacy design of its planned central bank digital currency (CBDC).

In an Aug. 10 interview published Monday, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said the digital euro’s design would limit the amount of transaction information available to the central bank.

“The Eurosystem would not be able to identify the users making or receiving payments,” Cipollone said.

Cipollone said only banks involved in transactions would be able to identify users, including for anti-money laundering purposes, while the Eurosystem would not be able to directly link specific individuals to digital euro payments. Meanwhile, offline digital euro transactions would allow payment details to be available only to the payer and payee.

Despite the ECB’s efforts to quell privacy concerns over the planned digital euro, lawmakers, privacy advocates and crypto community members have warned that government-issued digital currencies could expand financial surveillance.

In the US, President Donald Trump prohibited federal agencies from developing or promoting a CBDC in January 2025, citing risks to financial stability, individual privacy and US sovereignty. House lawmakers have separately advanced the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which seeks to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC.

Related: ECB picks 36 payment providers to test digital euro ahead of 2027 pilot

Digital euro pitched as payment sovereignty tool

Beyond privacy, the ECB has presented the digital euro as part of Europe’s effort to strengthen its payments infrastructure and reduce reliance on non-European payment providers. 

In an April public lecture held in Latvia, Cipollone said that Europe’s reliance on non-European payment providers creates a strategic vulnerability. He said two-thirds of euro-area card transactions are governed by non-European companies, and that the digital euro could reduce that dependence and provide European-controlled payment infrastructure.

The European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee backed its position on the digital euro legislation in June, while lawmakers later cleared the proposal for negotiations with the Council in July.

The ECB has said a digital euro could be issued as early as 2029, provided the necessary legislation is adopted and the project clears its remaining technical and operational stages.

Magazine: The digital euro: Surveillance money, or a better alternative to cash?

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Bitcoin (BTC) starts the final week of August near its highest levels since mid-May as its bear-market recovery reaches a critical stage.

Key points:

• Bitcoin sees a weekly candle close above its 50-week exponential moving average (EMA) for the first time since November 2025.
• Amid its best August gains in almost a decade, BTC/USD returns investor cohorts to net profit, while new money enters at $73,000.
• Fed chair Kevin Warsh is in the spotlight ahead of the Jackson Hole symposium.
• US PCE data will be released on Wednesday as markets continue to respond to last week’s US Treasury debt buyback.
• Investor capital returns to exchange-traded products as Bitcoin ETF netflows hit $1.9 billion last week.

Bitcoin scrapes weekly close above key resistance

Bitcoin reached $79,550 last week, its highest levels since early May as a five-day rally brought gains of up to 27%. BTC/USD closed last week at $77,727 on Bitstamp, per data from TradingView. This signified a reclaim of its 50-week exponential moving average (EMA), a key resistance trendline that currently sits at $77,752.

The 50-week EMA is commonly brought into focus by traders during Bitcoin bear markets. The last candle close above this crucial line of resistance was in early November 2025. In prior bear markets, BTC has retested the 50-week EMA before capitulating into its ultimate macro lows. This has meant some traders remain unconvinced by last week’s strong price action.

BTC/USD one-week chart with 50 EMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Prior to the close, crypto trader and analyst Rekt Capital warned that not only the 50-week EMA but the entire area around $80,000 figured as resistance for bulls to overcome, while price so far has topped out lower.

“Each Bear Market Relief Rally thus far would retrace sharply in the week following a strong breakout rally,” he wrote in ongoing X analysis. 

“Next weeks will be crucial. But maybe even already next week we’ll know whether Bitcoin can sustain these highs or not.”

An accompanying chart showed what Rekt Capital subsequently called a series of macro lower highs, potentially reinforcing the bear market despite recent strength.

BTC/USD one-week chart. Source: Rekt Capital on X.com

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on traders’ expectations of 2026 playing out in a similar manner to previous bear markets, with 2022 showing the most similarities in terms of timing. 

“If history repeats, Bitcoin will try to get as close as possible to ~$93,000 in 2027. But first, Bitcoin needs to fully confirm its Bear Market bottom and fully confirm a break of the Macro Downtrend,” Rekt Capital added.

BTC price on track for best August in nine years

Bitcoin consolidated over the weekend, with price circling $77,500 at the time of writing, still up 22% month-to-date in its best performing August since 2017, per data from CoinGlass.

BTC/USD monthly returns (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

The run-up saw the weekly candle reclaim several key price points, including the aggregate cost basis for short-term holders (STHs) — wallets holding a UTXO for less than 155 days — at $68,700. Onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant thus calculated STH net profitability at just over 11%.

“At the same time, Long-Term Holder profitability moved from approximately breakeven to +18.5%, while New Money profitability rose from -1.4% to +12.7%,” it reported on Monday.

Examining the cost basis of UTXOs as a whole, CryptoQuant noted that so-called “new money” now has a breakeven point at $73,000, above both the STH and LTH cost basis, leaving less margin for downside protection should BTC/USD reverse to attempt to find new support lower.

“That makes the 68K-73K region the key area to watch. Holding above it would suggest that the profitability reset is becoming structurally durable. Losing it would quickly push a large portion of recent buyers back into loss,” it added.

Bitcoin UTXO distribution by cohort age (screenshot). Source: CryptoQuant

Fed’s Warsh faces the music at Jackson Hole

All eyes are on the Federal Reserve and chair Kevin Warsh this week as the annual Jackson Hole economic symposium gets underway. 

The event, which will feature central bankers from over 70 countries, sees Warsh’s first keynote speech as Fed chair and his first public speaking appearance since the press conference that followed the July Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

Warsh has maintained a tight-lipped stance on financial policy, especially when it comes to future interest-rate changes — a topic to which crypto and risk assets are sensitive. Recent inflation data has supported a softening of policy going forward, but the ever-present threat of oil-price spikes from the US-Iran war has kept markets wary. 

The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 63.1% odds of rates remaining at their current 3.50-3.75% level after the September FOMC meeting.

Fed target-rate probability comparison for September FOMC meeting (screenshot). Source: CME Group

Speaking to CNBC last week, Thierry Wizman, global foreign exchange and rates strategist at Macquarie Group, warned that Warsh now had to juggle the influence of the Treasury with his plan to reduce the market involvement of the Fed.

Wizman told the network that “were Warsh to signal that he would stay ‘dovish’ indefinitely, it could be self-defeating for him and the Treasury, since inflation breakevens would rise further, perhaps undoing the stability in the nominal long-term yields that [Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent is trying to achieve.”

A survey of fund managers by Bank of America, quoted by Barchart and others, produced 72% odds of no rate hikes occurring before the US midterm elections in November. On policy, consensus coalesced around a “no landing” scenario over the next 12 months — where the economy avoids recession amid strong growth and low unemployment. 

Yield curve control talk returns after Treasury debt move

Beyond geopolitics, a move by the US Treasury last week to at least double the size of its debt buyback purchases to $4 billion per operation was the key market mover last week. The announcement sparked a Bitcoin short squeeze that went on to wipe out a record $3.1 billion of crypto short positions over two days.

The extent of the reaction sparked suggestions that Bitcoin was once again anticipating global liquidity-regime changes amid the rising cost of government debt financing worldwide.

“The intervention ignited a move in assets sensitive to the outlook for liquidity, including gold and Bitcoin. That hints at market concerns over currency debasement should measures like quantitative easing make a return to contain interest rates,” trading resource Mosaic Asset Company wrote in the latest edition of its regular newsletter, The Market Mosaic.

Mosaic argued that the intervention represented not a mere liquidity move but a form of yield curve control (YCC), with short-term bonds issued to cover the cost of the added buybacks. Crypto commentators have long expected YCC to be all but guaranteed to prevent government bankruptcy.

“YCC is the end game. When it is finally implicitly or explicitly declared, it’s game over for the value of the USD vs. gold and more importantly Bitcoin,” Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, forecast in a 2022 blog post. 

“YCC is how we get to $1 million Bitcoin and $10,000 to $20,000 gold.”

The day prior to Warsh’s appearance, meanwhile, brings a crucial piece of US macroeconomic data that could skew the mood for markets. 

The July print of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, due for release on Wednesday, is known to be the Fed’s “preferred” inflation gauge. In June it saw its first month-on-month drop since 2020.

Consensus around the upcoming print is for a 0.1% monthly increase, with the year-on-year increase cooling further to 3.6% versus 3.7% in June. 

PCE index one-month % change (screenshot). Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis

Bitcoin ETFs see strongest inflows in 10 months

Crypto fund inflows remain highly reactive to price volatility, with last week’s inflows to the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) breaking records.

Related: Bitcoin has ‘largely purged’ froth that preceded 50% drop from $126K: BlackRock

Data from UK-based investment company Farside Investors shows the ETF cohort taking in $1.9 billion over the week’s five trading days — the strongest weekly tally since October 2025, when Bitcoin hit its latest all-time highs of $126,200.

Thursday saw particularly strong performance as BTC/USD extended gains beyond $70,000, with BlackRock’s ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), seeing net inflows of more than half a billion dollars.

“We saw net inflows on every trading day last week, which suggests renewed investor interest in Bitcoin,” Gracie Lin, chief executive officer of crypto exchange OKX SG, told Bloomberg. 

“The question now is whether that momentum will hold. After such a strong move in Bitcoin, some profit-taking wouldn’t be surprising.”

US spot Bitcoin ETF netflows (screenshot). Source: Farside Investors

The results heavily contrast with activity just two months ago, with June seeing unprecedented net outflows of more than $4.5 billion. At the end of last week, total August inflows stood at $2.38 billion, a new year-to-date record.