McRib Returns as Bitcoin Traders Revive Their Strangest Bullish Superstition

A Slumping Market Turns Its Eyes to a Sandwich

With the year steadily drawing to a close and market volatility keeping traders on their toes, bitcoin's price has slipped approximately 1.8% over the past two weeks, while its value against the U.S. dollar has declined 4.1% since Sept. 23. Against that choppy backdrop, bitcoiners have somehow turned their attention to a rather peculiar subject: a sandwich featuring a restructured, boneless pork patty fashioned to resemble a miniature rack of spare ribs.

That culinary curiosity is McDonald's infamous McRib, a menu item that first debuted in 1981, was pulled from the lineup in 1985, and has since returned only in intermittent limited-time runs that turned its scarcity into part of its cult appeal. The sandwich is now making yet another comeback at select U.S. locations on Oct. 27. Historically, the fast-food chain has concentrated the sandwich's limited-time appearances in major metropolitan markets across the Midwest, the South, and Texas, including Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and Atlanta, though it has occasionally staged nationwide rollouts, as it did in 2020.

A Longstanding Superstition, Put to the Test

Bitcoin enthusiasts have long entertained the peculiar theory that the McRib's return sends $BTC prices climbing. Bitcoin.com News put that claim to the test last year: rather than hitting the streets in pursuit of the elusive barbecue delicacy, the outlet charted the sandwich's historical comebacks against bitcoin's price performance to see whether the correlation holds. The exercise revealed a decidedly more complicated narrative than the superstition implies.

Coinbase, Kraken, and Other Exchanges Join the Frenzy

This year's McRib comeback is no exception, and the speculation extends well beyond everyday bitcoin enthusiasts posting on X about the sandwich's supposed connection to bullish $BTC prices. Just before the weekend began, centralized exchange (CEX) Coinbase posted, "The McRib is coming back soon btw. IYKYK," seemingly hinting at the longstanding market superstition.

Fellow CEX Kraken joined the culinary speculation, writing, "McRib szn," alongside a photograph of McDonald's cult-favorite boneless pork sandwich. The McRib-fueled conversation reverberated across the exchange industry, with HTX, OKX, Blockchain.com, Bitrue, and several other CEX platforms joining the festivities. For the exchanges involved, such posts double as low-cost brand engagement on X, where meme participation has long been a routine way for crypto industry players to stay visible with a retail audience.

Six Bullish Years, One Disappointment

Revisiting Bitcoin.com News' 2025 McRib-to-bitcoin price analysis, the subsequent market data shows that $BTC never delivered the anticipated rally, having already entered a bearish retreat during the first week of October 2025. Nevertheless, the sandwich's historical track record leans more bullish than bearish, particularly when examining bitcoin's highest price within 12 months of each McRib comeback.

Across six years (2019-2024), bitcoin eventually climbed above its price on the corresponding McRib return date. Three of those years — 2020, 2021, and 2023 — produced relatively swift or substantial bullish advances, although the 2021 rally ultimately unraveled. The lone outright disappointment came last year, when bitcoin declined following the sandwich's return and never reclaimed its initial price. At the time of writing, $BTC is down 21% since the last McRib return, although a full 12 months have not yet elapsed, leaving the final verdict on that chapter undecided.

A Running Joke, Not a Trading Signal

Ultimately, despite the historical tilt toward bullish outcomes, the McRib-bitcoin connection remains an entertaining market superstition rather than a credible trading signal. That will not stop the McRib-to-bitcoin price relationship from being tracked during and after the sandwich's latest comeback, which will add a seventh year of data to the informal study — this one arriving with bitcoin already in its early-October retreat and last year's still-open 12-month window ticking toward a close. Much like bitcoin obituaries, Peter Schiff indicators, and other delightfully absurd correlations, crypto enthusiasts appreciate a good running joke — and that is precisely what the McRib-to-bitcoin analysis represents.