Bitcoin Breaks $79,000 as Momentum Extends Its Sharpest Weekly Run

Monday's session is shaping up as an extension of bitcoin's sharpest weekly advance in some time. The daily relative strength index (RSI) is flashing deeply overbought conditions in the 79–82 range, while the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) remains firmly bullish, with its line well above the signal and a positive histogram of roughly 1,500–3,400. Readings above 70 on the RSI are conventionally treated as overbought territory, a zone where momentum has run ahead of recent trading ranges — though strong trends can persist in that zone for extended stretches.

Bitcoin reached an intraday high of approximately $79,406 on Bitstamp before sellers pushed back. The leading cryptocurrency has gained 2.5% against the U.S. dollar today and more than 24% over the last seven days. While bulls keep pressing, 24-hour trading volume remains moderate at $36.758 billion. Bitcoin futures open interest stands at $57.57 billion, with CME — the regulated U.S. exchange whose contracts are widely used by institutional traders — and Binance commanding the largest share.

ETF Demand Fuels the Rally

A major force behind bitcoin's advance has been relentless demand for U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the spot-backed products approved by regulators in January 2024 that allow traditional brokerage accounts to hold bitcoin exposure directly. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas zeroed in on those flows on X as $BTC charged higher again.

"Bitcoin ETFs took just about $2b last week- their best week since the Good Ol Days of Oct 2025 as price went from $64k to $77k in a New York minute (that counts as God candle yeah?)."

Balchunas added: "Anyway, this is one of the benefits of a commodity in a constant state of supply shock."

His supply-shock framing rests on bitcoin's defining design constraint: total issuance is capped at 21 million coins, so new supply is fixed by protocol and cannot expand to meet rising demand the way it can in most commodity markets.

Treasury Buybacks and Leverage Add Fuel to the Fire

Other forces supporting bitcoin's run include the U.S. Treasury's decision to at least double the size of longer-dated, 10- to 30-year buyback operations, part of the regular repurchase program the Treasury launched in 2024 to support liquidity in outstanding securities. Leverage has also amplified the move, with roughly $3 billion liquidated from derivatives markets and some estimates putting the rally-wide total closer to $4 billion. Liquidations — the forced closure of leveraged positions when price moves against them — can compound volatility as cascading margin calls trigger further selling or buying.

On Monday alone, $337.28 million has been wiped out across crypto derivatives, including $66.43 million in $BTC short positions.

Resistance at $79,406 as Major Catalysts Loom

Despite the latest rise, bitcoin ran into a wall after touching $79,406 Monday morning, with resistance above that level looking increasingly stubborn. Over the coming weeks, traders will be watching several major catalysts, including the Jackson Hole central bank symposium — the Kansas City Fed's annual gathering where the Fed chair's remarks have historically steered market expectations for the rate path — and the Federal Reserve's September federal funds rate decision. Eyes will also remain on tensions between the United States and Iran and developments around the Strait of Hormuz.

Any one of these pressure points could send $BTC sharply in either direction. At the same time, bitcoin advocates argue the next leg higher could dwarf anything the market has seen before. Strive CEO Matt Cole reinforced that conviction Monday, arguing that bitcoin could be the thoroughbred leaving everything else in the dust.

"Bitcoin priced in gold is reinforcing my view that the next Bitcoin cycle will be the strongest we have ever seen," Cole explained on the social media platform X. "The dollar thesis I wrote about below and the growing hunt for scarcity in an AI-driven world of abundance both point toward a powerful structural tailwind for scarce assets. The $BTC /gold ratio adds another important signal: within that expanding scarcity trade, bitcoin may be beginning to reassert its relative leadership and reclaim the title of fastest horse."

At 9:55 a.m. EDT Monday, $BTC was trading at $78,272 and lower after slamming into resistance at $79,406 and above. By 10:15 a.m., buyers had muscled it back above $79,000. Bulls continue to hammer away, but the stubborn resistance ceiling overhead — specifically the psychological $80K zone — has yet to crack.

Source: news.bitcoin.com