Bitcoin (BTC-USD) opened at $78,528.41 on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 0.5% lower than Tuesday's opening price. As of 8:25 a.m. ET, bitcoin had moved up to $78,585.58.

Ethereum (ETH-USD) opened at $2,442.30 on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, down 1.6% from Tuesday's opening price. Ethereum also moved higher through the morning, reaching $2,469.90 as of 8:25 a.m. ET.

Bitcoin clears $80,000 for the first time in over three months

The price of bitcoin cleared $80,000 on Tuesday for the first time in over three months, hitting a high of $81,235.03.

The rally follows a surprise move by the U.S. Treasury Department to double its long-term bond-buying program — and the latest price run has bitcoin bulls out in full force.

The Treasury has run regular buyback operations — repurchasing outstanding securities to support trading conditions in the long-dated Treasury market — since 2024, making bond purchases an established liquidity-management tool rather than a one-off intervention. Developments like this are watched beyond the bond market: bitcoin has at times traded in step with technology-heavy stock indexes since 2020, and liquidity and interest-rate conditions are among the macro variables investors weigh when positioning in digital assets.

Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi published a crypto article on Wednesday morning, "Here's when bitcoin may hit $500,000", which outlines how bitcoin's August "price gusher" might only be the start of long-term gains in the years ahead.

"In our base case, we expect bitcoin to reach new all-time high of $150K by mid-2027 and $300K by 2029 end. However, given the macro regime shift, if institutional capital actively chases bitcoin, we could see an accelerated timeline, with bitcoin potentially peaking at $500K in 2029 and rapid recovery to new all-time highs of ~$200K by mid-2027. We maintain our bitcoin price forecast of ~$1 M million by 2033 end across the base and bull case," Chhugani said in a note on Wednesday.

Current price of bitcoin and ethereum

Bitcoin

Bitcoin's opening price on Wednesday was 0.5% lower than Tuesday's opening price. Here is how the opening bitcoin price has changed versus last week, last month, and last year:

• One week ago: +21.4%
• One month ago: +22.1%
• One year ago: -28.7%

Bitcoin's all-time high is $126,198.07, recorded on Oct. 6, 2025. Its all-time low is $0.04865, recorded on July 14, 2010. Even at Wednesday's level near $78,600, bitcoin trades more than a third below that record, a gap that reflects the steep decline of the past year.

Ethereum

Ethereum's opening price this morning was 1.6% lower than Tuesday's open. Here is how the opening ethereum price has changed versus last week, last month, and last year:

• One week ago: +27.4%
• One month ago: +30.4%
• One year ago: -44.1%

Ethereum's all-time high is $4,953.73, recorded on Aug. 24, 2025. Its all-time low is $0.4209, recorded on Oct. 21, 2015. At roughly $2,470, ethereum is changing hands at about half of the record it set almost exactly a year ago.

Crypto and taxes

You generally owe taxes when you sell cryptocurrency for more than you paid for it. The same applies when you exchange one digital asset for another: converting bitcoin into ethereum, for example, is not "just a trade" in the eyes of the IRS — it is a taxable event if the value changes. That framework follows from the IRS's long-standing position that virtual currency is treated as property rather than currency for federal income tax purposes, a stance laid out in its first formal crypto guidance in 2014.

Crypto taxes are not paid at the time of the transaction; they are reported on your tax return for the year in which the transaction took place. If you sold crypto for a profit at any point during 2025, that activity is reported when you file your 2025 return in early 2026.

How much tax you pay depends on two main factors:

• How long you held the asset before selling
• Your overall taxable income and filing status

Hold an asset for less than a year and you will usually face higher rates; hold it longer and the rates tend to be lower. This holding-period distinction matters more than most people realize — a few days can make a difference of as much as 17% or more, so timing matters. The same short-term and long-term capital-gains framework applies to stocks and other conventional investments.

Bitcoin and ethereum price charts

Whether you are new to tracking the value of bitcoin and ethereum or a more seasoned crypto investor, Yahoo Finance's price-of-bitcoin and price-of-ethereum charts show a visual history of how the value of the two currencies continues to move and evolve.

Source: Yahoo Finance