Bitcoin Crosses $80,000 for First Time Since May as Shorts Get Squeezed

Bitcoin (BTC) broke above $80,000 for the first time since May 15. The gain: 3% on the day, according to TradingView data cited by Cointelegraph. Some of that ground slipped away after the European close.

The number caps a 25% month-to-date climb, the strongest August for Bitcoin since 2017, and a 23.2% surge over seven days. Price action through the summer had been boxed between $62,000 and $67,000 for weeks. That range is now in the rearview.

Short sellers took the hit. Crypto short liquidations passed $220 million in the 24 hours around the breakout, per CoinGlass data. Since the rally lifted off above $67,000, more than $4 billion in shorts have been wiped out. The concentrated squeeze lines up with a band of bid liquidity near $76,700 that could serve as a floor if the pair pulls back.

The catalyst sits in Washington as much as on the tape, analysts said. The U.S. Treasury announced plans to at least double its purchases of longer-dated government debt, Decrypt reported. Expanded buybacks weaken the dollar and lift hard assets. Gold climbed to $4,661, per CME Group data. Bitcoin moved in step.

“Bitcoin’s 23% rally alongside gold during a period of U.S. dollar softness and elevated Treasury yields reflects a subtle shift in institutional sentiment,” said Lacie Zhang, research analyst at Bitget Wallet. “Rather than trading purely as a high-beta risk asset, Bitcoin is increasingly sharing narrative space with gold as a digital hedge against structural fiat debasement.”

Jake Kennis, senior research analyst at Nansen, saw the same pattern. “BTC and gold rising together while the dollar weakens is consistent with debasement and fiscal-credibility concerns, i.e. the classic ‘hard asset’ hedge trade,” he said.

Neither analyst is calling a regime shift. Kennis pointed out that a weaker dollar paired with elevated yields can reflect a higher term premium, inflation uncertainty, or shifting growth expectations rather than a clean loss of confidence in Treasuries. He termed the correlation “suggestive rather than proof as of now.” Zhang said separating a genuine systemic retreat from fiat from a liquidity-driven rally means watching real yields and derivatives positioning. “If real [TIPS] yields remain elevated while futures open interest leads spot demand, the movement may reflect tactical positioning rather than a permanent structural retreat from fiat,” she said.

Traders, as ever, disagree on what comes next. Rekt Capital, a trader and analyst writing on X, flagged that Bitcoin posted its first weekly close above the 50-week exponential moving average, currently at $77,251, since November 2025. In the 2022 bear market, Bitcoin managed two weekly closes above that trend line before falling to cycle lows.

“Bitcoin has Weekly Closed at the highs,” Rekt Capital wrote. “Now starts the real test. If this is a Bear Market Relief Rally, then Bitcoin could pullback as early as this week, or at least over the next few weeks. Now it’s all about Bitcoin proving sustained strength.”

Crypto-friendly policy headlines added tailwinds through the week. President Donald Trump urged Congress to pass a “fair version” of the Clarity Act. CFTC Chair Michael Selig said the agency was preparing crypto market structure rules in case the legislation stalls, Decrypt reported. Whether those headlines translate into sustained flows is the question the next weekly close may answer.