Bitcoin hits $87,397, an eight-month high, but it is still below where 2026 began

Bitcoin traded as high as $87,397 on Coinbase on Monday, its highest price since January 29, before settling near $85,700 late in the New York evening. That is up about 5.4% over the past 24 hours on Coinbase's own figures. Ether moved with it, touching $2,807 and trading near $2,742, up about 3%.

Monday's jump came on the same day oil fell sharply and the Nasdaq closed at a record, as we reported in our market close. We covered the morning numbers in today's crypto prices report, when Bitcoin was just under $85,000.

The number the headline leaves out

"Eight-month high" sounds like a breakout year. The Coinbase daily candles tell a more mixed story:

So Bitcoin has had a very large recovery from its summer low, but anyone who bought on January 1 is still under water. It also remains far below its October 2025 record above $126,000, which CNBC noted in its coverage.

Why it moved: shorts forced out, ETF money back

CoinDesk reported that roughly $750 million of bearish derivative positions were liquidated as Bitcoin pushed through $82,000, a level that had capped prices since August, citing CoinGlass data. When shorts are liquidated, exchanges buy to close them, which adds to the move.

Spot ETF flows flipped quickly. According to CoinDesk, citing Farside Investors, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost a combined $746 million on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, as the Senate blocked the Clarity Act and the Fed raised rates, then took in $160 million on Thursday and $433 million on Friday.

On regulation, CNBC reported the rally came despite the Clarity Act failing to advance last week. The bill would have split crypto oversight between the SEC and the CFTC. Without it, those agencies keep setting the rules for now.

Who this actually hits

• Spot ETF holders. CoinDesk put the average cost basis for U.S. Bitcoin ETF buyers at $82,225. At about $85,700, the typical ETF holder is roughly 4% in profit, the first time in a while by CoinDesk's account. That matters because a crowd sitting near breakeven is a crowd that may sell into strength.
• Leveraged traders. The squeeze cleared out shorts, but CoinDesk reported that about $2 billion of new futures open interest was added since the breakout, citing Coinalyze. Fresh leverage on both sides means larger swings in either direction, which is what traders say they are watching.
• Crypto stocks. CNBC reported that Strategy and Coinbase rose in U.S. trading Monday. Our pages on Strategy and Coinbase explain how closely each tracks the coin.

What traders are watching

Analysts quoted by CoinDesk pointed to $90,000 as the next level in focus, and to Monday's ETF flow data, due later, as a test of whether spot buyers are still showing up. The other markers are the ones in the table: the year's opening price near $87,500 and the January high near $89,200.

Sources: Coinbase Exchange public market data (BTC-USD and ETH-USD 24-hour stats and daily candles, fetched September 21, 2026 at about 10:30 p.m. ET); CoinDesk; CNBC; The Wall Street Journal. Percentages are our calculations from Coinbase prices. This is market information, not investment advice.