The cryptocurrency market has recorded its most powerful surge in activity in the past three years. In just one week, Bitcoin soared by more than 23%, decisively breaking through the key psychological barrier near $77,500 and holding above important moving averages as per TradingView data.
This rally changes the gloomy picture of the first two quarters of 2026, restoring optimism to the market after months of intense pressure on the price.
The first half of the year proved extremely difficult for investors, as the declines in January and February were followed by a 20.5% plunge in June, which brought bearish sentiment back to the market.
However, the local reversal that began with moderate growth in July turned into a genuine explosion in August. As of today, the month-to-date return stands at a phenomenal 22.7%, which looks abnormal compared with August's historical average of just 0.82%.
Following the breakout from a multi-month trading range, technical analysts have begun talking about the complete end of the bear market phase. In particular, popular expert Doctor Profit notes that the structure of the price movement has completely shifted in favor of buyers.
According to his estimates, the $71,000 level, which had long constrained growth, has now become the market's main support level. The nearest interim target for the bulls is $78,500, and a sustained move above it would open a direct path toward testing the round-number threshold of $82,000.
What pushed the price higher and where sellers are waiting
The growth was driven by a classic combination of panic among leveraged traders and an influx of institutional capital. The main driver of the upward move was a massive short squeeze: the rapid breakout triggered sellers' protective stop-loss orders, leading to the forced closure of billions of dollars in short positions.
This momentum was continuously fueled by net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs, which attracted an impressive $1.91 billion during the trading week from Aug. 17 to Aug. 21. Daily inflows peaked at $606.29 million last Thursday, pushing the funds' total net assets to $96.07 billion.
Nevertheless, major players are in no hurry to give in to the general euphoria. The main obstacle to a continued vertical rally is now the concentration of large sell orders — so-called "liquidity walls" — near $80,000.
Since Bitcoin has moved far ahead of the rest of the market, some large capital may temporarily flow into the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum, as well as other major altcoins that are still clearly lagging behind the flagship asset.
