Need to Know
- Bitcoin touched roughly $79,400–$79,500 on Friday, August 21, and was changing hands near $77,500 in early trading on Saturday, August 22, its highest level since May 2026.
- The weekly gain is reported between 20% and 24% depending on the data provider, on pace to be the sharpest weekly advance since March 2023.
- The move traces back to the US Treasury’s Wednesday announcement of a liquidity-support operation at least doubling long-dated bond buybacks, followed by a White House meeting between President Trump and crypto executives.
- Bloomberg logged a record $2.7 billion in short liquidations across crypto in the initial 24-hour window, the largest since CoinGlass records began in 2021; CryptoSlate’s three-day tally puts Bitcoin-specific liquidations above $4 billion since Wednesday.
- Bitcoin remains roughly 37–39% below its all-time high of $126,198, hit on October 6, 2025, and still below its own 2026 high of roughly $97,800–$97,900, set in mid-January.
- For Indian investors, gains booked via domestic exchanges stay taxed at a flat 30% under Section 115BBH, plus 1% TDS, with no loss set-off, unchanged in Union Budget 2026-27.
What’s Driving Bitcoin’s Rally
Bitcoin has forced its way back into the headlines this week, climbing within touching distance of $80,000 in what several desks call its sharpest weekly advance since March 2023. The token peaked near $79,400–$79,500 on Friday before easing to around $77,500 in early trade on Saturday, August 22, a level last seen in May.
The scale of the move depends on which data provider is doing the counting. The original wire report on this rally pegged the weekly gain at roughly 23%. CNBC’s tally put it closer to 22%, Forbes cited 24%, and CoinGecko’s seven-day reading showed 22.8%.
Whichever number is used, Bitcoin has clawed back from around $62,800–$64,000 at the start of the week to the high-$70,000s, a move few trading desks were positioned for.
The trigger was fiscal, not crypto-native. On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department would at least double the size of its long-dated bond buybacks, a liquidity-support operation for 10- to 30-year Treasury securities aimed at improving bond-market functioning after a spike in yields had rattled markets.
The window runs from September 9 through November 4. Longer-dated Treasury yields eased on the news, and risk assets broadly caught a bid. Gold moved in tandem, touching its highest level since May and trading near $4,540–$4,660, a move some strategists read as a parallel bet on looser fiscal conditions ahead.
The same day, President Trump met crypto industry executives, including leaders from Coinbase and Kraken’s parent company, and pressed the Senate to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (commonly called the Clarity Act), a long-stalled bill meant to settle whether digital assets are regulated as securities or commodities.
The bill did not get a vote before the Senate’s August recess, but Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed on August 8, setting up a procedural vote scheduled for 2:15 PM ET on Tuesday, September 15, the day after the Senate returns from recess.
That policy backdrop met a market that was heavily positioned against Bitcoin. As prices broke higher, leveraged short positions began unwinding in a cascade: more than $1 billion in Bitcoin shorts were liquidated within roughly an hour on Wednesday into Thursday, part of a broader crypto-wide short-covering wave that Bloomberg logged at a record $2.7 billion in bearish bets wiped out in that initial 24-hour window, the largest such event since CoinGlass records began in 2021.
A separate three-day tally from CryptoSlate citing Coinglass data put cumulative Bitcoin short liquidations since Wednesday above $4 billion, a reminder that liquidation totals swing sharply depending on the exact window measured.
Institutional flows added fuel rather than started the fire. US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in between roughly $500 million and $606 million on Thursday alone, the strongest single day since May 1, and SoSoValue data cited by Forbes and Yahoo Finance put the week’s cumulative haul at around $1.6 billion, among the strongest weeks since January.
CoinGlass data showed open interest in Bitcoin futures climbing above $54 billion, roughly $10 billion higher than its late-June low. Separately, large wallet addresses, so-called Bitcoin whales, added an estimated $2.75–2.9 billion worth of the token over the past 60 days, pushing whale holdings to their highest combined level since November 2024.
Crypto-linked equities rallied alongside the token, with Coinbase up roughly 7.6–8.2%, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) up 6–7.8%, and stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group up around 5.2%.
Not every analyst reads this as a durable demand shift. One researcher argued gold, not Bitcoin, is where investors are genuinely hedging currency and inflation risk this week, since gold’s advance reflected organic buying while Bitcoin’s was inflated by forced short-covering.
CoinShares separately flagged that large-holder accumulation remains modest, meaning the rally may still lack the conviction that underpins a lasting breakout.
Crypto-Linked Stocks to Watch
- Coinbase, up roughly 7.6–8.2% this week
- Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), up 6–7.8%, sitting on a reported $1.4 billion unrealized profit on its Bitcoin holdings
- Circle Internet Group, up around 5.2%
Check Live: Crypto Price Today — Bitcoin, Ethereum & Live Rates
NiftyTrader Rally Tracker: How Different Outlets Reported This Week’s Move
Compiled by NiftyTrader Desk from multiple named sources, figures are presented as reported, not independently re-derived, given conflicting data windows across outlets.
| Metric | Reported Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly BTC gain | ~23% | Bloomberg / Moneycontrol |
| Weekly BTC gain | ~22% | CNBC |
| Weekly BTC gain | ~24% | Forbes |
| Weekly BTC gain (7-day) | 22.8% | CoinGecko |
| Friday intraday peak | ~$79,500 | Forbes |
| Friday intraday peak | ~$79,400 | CoinDesk |
| ETF inflows (full week) | ~$1.6 billion | Forbes / Yahoo Finance (SoSoValue) |
| ETF inflows (Thursday only) | $500M–$606M | CoinDesk |
| Short liquidations (24-hr, record) | $2.7 billion | Bloomberg |
| Short liquidations (3-day, BTC only) | $4 billion+ | CryptoSlate (Coinglass) |
Bitcoin’s Key 2026 Price Markers
NiftyTrader Desk compilation, cross-checked across sources.
| Milestone | Price | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time high | $126,198 | Oct 6, 2025 | CNBC / Yahoo Finance |
| 2026 high | ~$97,800–$97,900 | Mid-January 2026 | 24/7 Wall St. / SoFi |
| 2026 low (21-month low) | ~$58,000–$58,642 | July 1, 2026 | 24/7 Wall Street / Bloomberg-Moneycontrol |
| Start of this rally | ~$62,800–$64,000 | Aug 17, 2026 | CNBC |
| Friday peak | ~$79,400–$79,500 | Aug 21, 2026 | Forbes / CoinDesk |
| Current price | ~$77,500 | Aug 22, 2026 (early trade) | Multi-exchange, IST |
What’s Next: Jackson Hole, the Fed, and the Clarity Act
Two catalysts stand out for the week ahead. The Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium is scheduled for next week, flagged by CoinShares as a key test for whether Bitcoin can sustain a move above $80,000.
The setup is more complicated than it looks: as of CoinDesk’s August 21 live coverage citing CME FedWatch data, futures markets were pricing more than a 40% chance of a September rate hike, up from 33% a week earlier, with full-year hike odds near 72%, against a Fed target range of 3.50%–3.75%.
That figure has moved quickly this month, other snapshots earlier in the week, including one cited by Goldman Sachs, put September hike odds closer to 30%. A hawkish Fed alongside a bond-buyback rally is unusual, which is why several desks treat this as a liquidity story rather than a new bull cycle.
The Clarity Act’s September 15 cloture vote is the second watch point. Clearing that procedural hurdle would move the bill toward floor debate and give exchanges and institutional allocators long-sought regulatory certainty on how digital assets are classified in the US.
The vote needs 60 votes, meaning Republicans need at least seven Democratic votes even with all 53 Republicans in support; another delay would remove one of this week’s stated catalysts.
What This Means for Indian Crypto Investors
Indian investors tracking this move through domestic exchanges are watching the same dollar price, converted into rupees, but under a materially different tax regime than their US counterparts.
Gains from transferring any Virtual Digital Asset, Bitcoin included, are taxed at a flat 30% under Section 115BBH, with an additional 1% TDS under Section 194S on transfers above the prescribed threshold.
Losses cannot be set off against other VDA gains or other income, and Union Budget 2026-27 left this unchanged despite industry lobbying for relief.
That structure matters most in fast, short-covering-driven rallies like this one, where trading in and out of a volatile move carries a tax cost regardless of whether the position is ultimately held for profit.
Also Check: Crypto Option Chain India — Live Bitcoin & Ethereum Options on Delta Exchange
Can Bitcoin Reclaim $100,000? Here’s What Has to Happen Next
Six figures is suddenly back in the conversation. At current levels near $77,500, Bitcoin would need to rise roughly 29% to reclaim $100,000, a substantial move even after this week’s 22%–23% surge.
The path isn’t a straight line. The first real test isn’t $100,000, it’s Bitcoin’s own 2026 high near $97,800–$97,900, set in mid-January before the token tumbled. Only after clearing that level does $100,000 come back into view.
Momentum indicators are cooperating for now: Bitcoin’s RSI touched 74 in mid-August and its MACD turned positive, technical signals that typically show up in the early stage of a larger breakout.
But an almost identical setup appeared in July, and that spike reversed within a month, meaning this move has to survive through September to be read as more than a repeat false start.
There’s also a psychological wall built into the number itself. Skybridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci said this week that $100,000 became a level where a wave of longtime Bitcoin holders locked in profits and sold during the previous cycle, according to 24/7 Wall Street, part of why it could act as resistance again on the way back up.
Two dates now matter more than the price itself: next week’s Fed Jackson Hole symposium, and the Clarity Act’s September 15 cloture vote.
A dovish Fed signal or progress on the Clarity Act could remove two important policy uncertainties standing between Bitcoin and a fresh run at six figures, while a hawkish surprise or another legislative delay could revive the selling pressure some traders are still positioning for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is Bitcoin rallying toward $80,000 in August 2026?
The rally was triggered by the US Treasury’s announcement of expanded long-dated bond buybacks, followed by a Trump-crypto industry meeting and renewed momentum behind the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. A wave of short-position liquidations then amplified the initial move.
Q: Has Bitcoin actually crossed $80,000?
Not yet as of early trading on August 22. It touched an intraday high near $79,400–$79,500 on Friday, August 21, before pulling back toward $77,500.
Q: How is Bitcoin’s rally taxed for Indian investors?
Income from the transfer of Bitcoin and other Virtual Digital Assets is taxed at a flat 30% under Section 115BBH, with 1% TDS under Section 194S and no loss set-off, a framework Union Budget 2026-27 left unchanged.
Q: What could derail the rally next week?
A hawkish signal from the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium, another delay to the Clarity Act’s September 15 cloture vote, or evidence that spot demand behind the move remains as shallow as some analysts currently believe.
Q: Is this a genuine bull market or a short squeeze?
Opinions are split. Some strategists point to strong ETF inflows and whale accumulation as signs of real demand; others argue the bulk of the move was forced short-covering rather than organic buying, since large-holder accumulation has stayed modest relative to the size of the price move.
