Key takeaways

• Bitcoin trades around $77,000 after gaining more than 23% last week, its strongest weekly performance since March 2023.
• Investors realized $1.72 billion in profits on Friday, the highest daily total since November 2024.
• US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.92 billion in weekly inflows, their strongest showing since October 2025.
• BTC faces immediate resistance at $78,490 and $80,000, with additional upside targets at $81,059, $87,599 and $88,990.

Bitcoin is trading around $77,000 on Monday after surging more than 23% last week, its strongest weekly gain since mid-March 2023.

The rally followed the US Treasury’s announcement that it would expand its debt buyback operations, improving sentiment across cryptocurrency markets.

Strong institutional demand also supported the advance, with US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recording their largest weekly inflows since October 2025.

However, on-chain data suggests some investors are taking profits as BTC approaches the psychologically important $80,000 level.

That selling activity could result in a temporary consolidation phase or a short-term pullback before Bitcoin attempts another move higher.

Bitcoin investors realize $1.72 billion in daily profits

CryptoQuant data shows Bitcoin holders realized approximately $1.72 billion in profits on Friday.

The figure marked the highest daily realized profit total since late November 2024. Last week’s rapid price increase moved many investors back into profitable territory, encouraging some holders to sell and secure their gains.

Historically, sharp increases in realized profits can precede a period of consolidation or a temporary correction as additional supply enters the market.

The profit-taking does not necessarily signal the end of Bitcoin’s broader recovery. However, it does indicate that the market may face increased selling pressure near major resistance levels.

Despite the increase in profit-taking, Bitcoin’s underlying spot demand has improved. CryptoQuant’s apparent demand metric has moved into positive territory after remaining negative since late February.

The shift suggests net buying interest has strengthened, potentially providing support even as some investors reduce their positions.

A sustained improvement in spot demand would help offset selling pressure and support the case for a continuation of Bitcoin’s rally.

However, traders will be watching whether buyers can maintain that momentum while BTC consolidates below $80,000.

Institutional investors played a significant role in last week’s price advance. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $1.92 billion in net inflows, according to SoSoValue data.

The figure represented the highest weekly inflow so far this year and the strongest since mid-October 2025.

Continued inflows could provide additional support for Bitcoin as it attempts to overcome nearby resistance.

Conversely, a slowdown in institutional demand may make it more difficult for BTC to sustain its recent gains, particularly while short-term momentum appears stretched.

BTC caces immediate resistance at $78,490

Bitcoin recently tested the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $78,490. The level is derived from the move between the August 2024 low near $49,000 and the October 2025 record high of $126,199.

A weekly close above $78,490 would strengthen the bullish technical outlook and could open the way toward the 50-week Simple Moving Average at $81,059.

Before reaching that level, Bitcoin must also clear the psychological resistance at $80,000.

If buyers push BTC above both barriers, the next major upside target would be the 50% Fibonacci retracement level at $87,599.

The 100-week SMA near $88,990 represents another significant resistance level within the same price zone.

Bitcoin remains above its 200-week SMA at $64,571 following its recent breakout from a prolonged consolidation phase.

The weekly Relative Strength Index stands near 55, comfortably above the neutral level of 50.

This reading suggests that momentum has improved without yet reaching an extreme on the weekly timeframe.

The weekly Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator also remains bullish after recording a positive crossover in mid-July.

Rising green histogram bars suggest that upward momentum continues to build. Together, these indicators support the possibility of additional gains if Bitcoin can overcome resistance between $78,490 and $81,059.

The daily chart presents a more cautious picture despite Bitcoin’s strong overall structure.

BTC trades well above its 50-day, 100-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages, located at $66,786, $67,415 and $71,781, respectively.

However, the daily RSI has climbed to approximately 79, placing Bitcoin firmly in overbought territory.

Such readings do not automatically imply an imminent reversal, but they often indicate that a market may need to consolidate or retrace after a sharp advance.

The daily MACD remains positive, confirming that bullish momentum is still in place, although the strength of the recent move leaves BTC vulnerable to profit-taking.

If Bitcoin pulls back, the 200-day EMA near $71,781 represents the first major technical support level.

The psychological $70,000 mark is another important area that could attract buyers if selling pressure increases.

A deeper decline would expose the 100-day EMA at $67,415 and the 50-day EMA at $66,786.

The nearby horizontal support at $66,500 strengthens that broader demand zone. If those levels fail, Bitcoin could fall toward the next major support area around $62,300.

For now, BTC’s immediate outlook depends on whether buyers can absorb profit-taking and push the price above $78,490 and $80,000. A successful breakout would keep $81,059 and the $87,599 to $88,990 region in focus.

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows surged last week after months of uneven flows, with investors pouring nearly $2 billion into the products amid a surge in Bitcoin’s price.

Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.92 billion in net inflows during the week ending Friday, marking their strongest weekly performance in nearly 10 months, according to SoSoValue data.

ETF analyst Nate Geraci said Sunday that spot Ether ETFs also attracted about $700 million. He added that Bitcoin and Ether funds each posted their strongest weekly inflows since October 2025.

The renewed ETF demand came amid Bitcoin jumping more than 20% last week, briefly surging past $79,000 on Friday after starting the week near $63,000, according to CoinGecko.

Bitcoin ETFs remain in the red for 2026

Despite the latest surge, US spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded about $2.91 billion in net outflows so far in 2026.

The funds saw their heaviest monthly outflows in June at $4.51 billion, following $2.43 billion in withdrawals in May. August has brought $2.38 billion in net inflows through Friday, making it the strongest month for inflows so far this year.

Monthly spot Bitcoin ETF flows since October 2025. Source: SoSoValue

During the last major inflow wave in October 2025, the funds attracted $3.42 billion. The October inflows preceded the Oct. 10 crypto market crash, which triggered the largest liquidation event in the industry’s history, wiping out roughly $19 billion in leveraged positions within 24 hours.

Source: Quinten

Since Oct. 6, when Bitcoin traded near $124,700, its price has plummeted roughly 38%.

BlackRock’s IBIT flashes a “bullish signal”

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) was responsible for much of last week’s resurgence, attracting about $1.33 billion in net inflows across five consecutive trading days, according to Farside Investors data.

IBIT’s daily inflows rose from $160.2 million on Monday to $503 million on Thursday, before easing to $239.3 million on Friday.

Source: Eric Balchunas

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas took to X to highlight what he described as a “classic Flipping the Bird pattern” in IBIT’s daily flows, adding that he viewed it as a bullish signal.

Magazine: We are so back! Bitcoin’s 23% rally on US debt policy: Hodler’s Digest

What our eschatologies excuse 

Decentralized lending protocol Term Finance has reportedly suffered a major governance-related theft targeting its vault product, with security firms estimating losses of roughly $8.5 million. The incident centers on Term Meta Vaults—strategy vault contracts designed to allocate and manage assets—where an attacker allegedly gained control of governance and used it to drain funds.

PeckShield said the attacker extracted about 2,843 ETH and 1.68 million USDC. PeckShield’s post valued the ETH at approximately $6.87 million at the time of the reported drain, and stated that the USDC was converted into about 1.68 million DAI. CertiK reported a broadly similar figure, putting the total loss at around $8.5 million.

Key takeaways

• Security firms estimate Term Finance’s vault theft at about $8.5 million, based on reported withdrawals of ETH and stablecoins.
• The attack is described as a governance takeover: the attacker allegedly obtained voting power and passed proposals enabling vault control.
• Term Labs says it has shut down Term Meta Vaults and revoked their DAO governance roles, aiming to stop further deposits while allowing withdrawals.
• Earlier risk controls were already tightened after a prior 2025 oracle incident, but this new event again highlights governance as a critical attack surface.

Estimated losses and what was taken

Multiple blockchain security monitors aligned on the scale of the exploit. According to PeckShield’s alert, the attacker drained approximately 2,843 ETH and 1.68 million USDC from Term’s vault system. PeckShield also indicated that the USDC was traded into roughly 1.68 million DAI.

CertiK’s estimate matched the order of magnitude, placing the combined loss at about $8.5 million. The reported theft was especially significant relative to what Term had deployed in its vaults: DefiLlama data indicates the Term vault product held about $12.45 million prior to the incident, including nearly all of its roughly $8.8 million in Ethereum deposits.

Term Labs freezes vaults, claims core protocol markets were not affected

Term Labs responded by stating it had “irreversibly shut down all Term Meta Vaults” and revoked their DAO governance roles. The company said the move prevents additional deposits, while withdrawals remain open.

In its statement, Term Labs said its investigation so far indicates the underlying Term protocol, along with its direct borrowing and lending markets, were not affected. The team also emphasized that it was still validating the full scope of impact, including whether any additional exposure exists beyond the vault contracts targeted in the incident.

Governance manipulation allegedly enabled vault control

Monitoring service Defimon said the attacker likely achieved control by cheaply acquiring a majority of a sparsely distributed governance token. Defimon reported that the attacker then used that control to submit proposals that allowed it to seize control of Term’s vaults.

Term has not confirmed how the attacker obtained voting power or which exact governance functions were used. That uncertainty matters for users and integrators because it points to gaps that may extend beyond a single contract bug—especially when governance frameworks can be influenced through token concentration, proposal mechanics, or voting wrappers.

Term’s vault contracts are built using Yearn V3 infrastructure. However, Yearn stated that the exploit relied on a custom governance wrapper and that the attack vector does not apply to standard Yearn vault setups. This distinction is important for builders evaluating whether “Yearn-based” automatically implies “protected by default” governance assumptions.

Why this echoes a prior Term incident

This governance exploit comes after an earlier Term incident in April 2025, when an oracle error is reported to have triggered unintended liquidations totaling about 918 ETH. Term’s subsequent response included recovering about 556 ETH at the time, reducing its final loss to 362 ETH, and reimbursing affected users, according to a postmortem published by Term.

In the wake of that April 2025 episode, Term pledged third-party validation for critical updates and committed to greater governance transparency. The new theft suggests that, regardless of improvements to operational controls and monitoring, governance pathways can still become high-impact targets if attackers can acquire voting influence or exploit proposal execution flows.

At this point, the most actionable questions for stakeholders are whether Term’s remaining vaults and governance arrangements are fully isolated from the compromised mechanics, and how quickly Term can quantify any residual exposure. With the company already disabling Meta Vault deposits and revoking governance roles, attention should turn to the scope of affected contracts, the likelihood of partial recovery, and whether Term’s governance design will undergo further structural changes before the next round of vault operations resumes.

Solana validators and delegators began voting on three network governance proposals on Aug. 23, covering a proposed constitution, faster SOL disinflation and a redesigned transaction fee structure.

Voting on SGP-0001, SGP-0002 and SGP-0003 will remain open until the end of epoch 1023. Solana developers expect the epoch to conclude at approximately 15:30 UTC on Thursday, Aug. 27, although blockchain epoch timing can shift.

The proposals are stake-weighted signaling votes. Approval would establish a mandate to proceed, but the inflation and fee changes would still require technical implementation before becoming active.

Solana Constitution would formalize network decisions

SGP-0001 asks validators and delegators to ratify the Solana Constitution. The document would become the canonical framework for network-level decisions and activate Solana’s on-chain governance system, known as svmgov.

The proposed system allows validators to vote using their active stake. Delegators can normally vote through their validator, but they retain the right to override that decision using their own stake account.

Under the proposed rules, participation must reach one-third of network stake. Approval requires support from two-thirds of participating stake, excluding abstentions from the approval calculation.

An SGP represents a directional decision rather than a complete technical specification. Solana Improvement Documents, or SIMDs, provide the detailed protocol changes that developers review and implement afterward.

Faster disinflation could reduce SOL issuance

SGP-0002 asks the network to support doubling Solana’s annual disinflation rate from 15% to 30%. The proposal would not immediately halve the current inflation rate. Instead, it would accelerate how quickly inflation falls toward the existing 1.5% terminal floor.

The associated SIMD-0550 estimates that the change would shorten the time required to reach the terminal rate from approximately 5.7 years to 2.8 years. It projects around 18.9 million fewer SOL in emissions over six years compared with the current schedule.

Those figures remain projections rather than confirmed supply reductions. The actual result would depend on the activation date and network conditions. The change is also consensus-sensitive because validator rewards affect capitalization and bank hashes.

The vote follows an earlier debate over Solana’s security budget. As previously reported, an 80% inflation reduction proposal failed to secure sufficient approval in March 2025 despite receiving support from 61.39% of participating stake.

Solana fee reform would expand transaction burns

SGP-0003 asks voters to endorse splitting Solana’s base transaction charge into an inclusion fee and a resource fee. The inclusion fee would go to the block leader, while the resource portion would be burned completely.

The accompanying SIMD-0553 proposes a fixed inclusion fee of 2,500 lamports per transaction. The resource fee would vary according to the computational resources requested by each transaction.

Supporters argue that resource-based pricing would make transactions requesting more network capacity pay more. Burning the resource fee would also remove SOL from circulation rather than distributing that portion to validators.

A successful vote would only authorize developers to pursue the model. It would not immediately change fees or SOL burns. Detailed implementation, testing and feature activation would follow through the SIMD process.

What happens after the three Solana votes?

Validators and delegators can vote for, against or abstain before epoch 1023 ends. Votes are weighted using active stake recorded during the governance snapshot.

If a proposal reaches quorum and the required approval threshold, its outcome becomes a network mandate. SGP-0001 would ratify the governance framework, while SGP-0002 and SGP-0003 would guide work on their related technical specifications.

SOL traded near $94.27 on Aug. 24, up approximately 1.8% over 24 hours and about 25% over seven days. The broader cryptocurrency rally contributed to the weekly move, and available market data does not establish that governance voting caused the increase.

Final vote totals will determine whether Solana proceeds with all three proposals, accepts only part of the package or leaves the existing inflation and fee structures unchanged.