Bitcoin has climbed above $87,000 for the second time in less than 48 hours, reaching $87,251 before falling back to about $86,400.
The move came after the cryptocurrency briefly dropped to an intraday low of $85,163 early on Sept. 22. It quickly recovered $86,000 before reaching its overnight peak shortly after midnight.
Bitcoin’s market capitalisation remained close to $1.74 trillion, while its daily advance was capped at just over 1% following the retreat. The latest consolidation mirrors Monday’s reaction, when Bitcoin first moved above $87,000 for the first time since late January.
The cryptocurrency is now up 35% compared with levels before 19 August, despite trading largely sideways in recent sessions. Its performance has been supported by strong demand above $85,000 and improving sentiment across digital-asset markets.
For a third consecutive day, price movements have put greater pressure on short sellers than on traders betting on further falls. Data from Coinglass showed short liquidations had fallen to $48m, compared with $171m 12 hours earlier and more than $454m on Monday.
Long liquidations, meanwhile, increased to almost $14m, up sharply from $6m on Monday.
The initial rally followed the US Treasury’s announcement of a bond buyback. However, Bitcoin’s continued resilience suggests the improvement may reflect a wider change in market sentiment. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has remained mostly above 60 since the middle of August.
FOMO, or fear of missing out, has also risen to levels last recorded in December 2024. Together with technical indicators pointing to further momentum, that has added to the view that digital assets may have entered a new bull market and that the crypto winter is over.
Tony DiCarlo, director of institutional propositions at Rootstock Labs, said legislative and macroeconomic developments had helped maintain Bitcoin’s recent advance.
“Technically, Bitcoin is back above its 50- and 200-week moving averages, up ~29% in 35 days. Legislatively, the SEC stepped up support of digital assets where Congress hasn’t, with the Innovation Exemption filling the CLARITY gap within 24 hours, driving sharp rallies in tokenization-related digital assets and improving broader confidence,” DiCarlo told Bitcoin.com News.
He also pointed to the American Reserve Modernization Act clearing committee this week, saying it had revived discussion of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Japan’s rate increase, combined with a weaker yen, suggested a dovish path from the Bank of Japan, DiCarlo added. He said that was helping preserve the carry trade and the loose liquidity conditions supporting Bitcoin’s rise.
Although he remains cautious about declaring the crypto winter over, DiCarlo believes much of the negative news has already been reflected in prices.
“With October and November historically Bitcoin’s stronger months, and macro tailwinds now aligning, we could be heading into some strong momentum through year-end. The last piece of the puzzle we were watching for just confirmed this morning [Tuesday, Sept. 22], with U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulling in $999 million in net inflows yesterday, one of the largest single-day inflows in the last 11 months,” he said.
Bitcoin reached an intraday high of $87,374 on Monday, Sept. 21, its highest level since late January.
