Bitcoin Price Hits $87,000, Highest Since January

The Bitcoin price climbed more than 7% on Monday and touched $87,000 on Coinbase and Binance, a level last seen in late January. The move forced $710M of liquidations in twenty-four hours, almost all of them on short positions. Falling oil and an upcoming summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping pulled traders back into risk.

Key Takeaways

• BTC touched $87,000, its highest print since late January.
• $710M was liquidated in 24 hours, 96% of it shorts during the peak hour.
• Bitcoin is up 44% in the third quarter but still 48% below its record.

The Bitcoin Price Clears $87,000 and Flushes $710M of Positions

Monday’s session came in steps. The Bitcoin price first crossed $82,000, then $85,000, and finally touched $87,000 on Coinbase and Binance late in the US day. On Bitstamp the high topped $86,500, a 33-week peak. By Tuesday morning in Asia, BTC was still holding just above $85,600.

The last comparable milestone came in August, when Bitcoin hit $75,500, its highest level since May. A month later, BTC trades more than $10,000 above that level.

Derivatives did most of the work. Close to $300M of positions were wiped out in a single hour, and 96% of them were shorts. Bitcoin accounted for $226M of that hour and ether for $59M. Over twenty-four hours the tally reached $710M across roughly 135,000 traders.

It echoes September 4, when Bitcoin rebounded to $82K and wiped out $140M of sellers. The difference this time is that leverage came straight back. Futures open interest added more than $2B on the day and now stands above $31B in notional value.

Spot ETFs joined in. US-listed spot bitcoin funds pulled in $998.95M of net inflows on Monday, their biggest single day since October 6, 2025. BlackRock’s IBIT took $381.37M, ahead of Ark’s ARKB at $289.12M and Fidelity’s FBTC at $238.84M.

The rise in the Bitcoin price also put those fund holders back in profit. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted on X that the average bitcoin ETF holder is back in the green for the first time since January, with an estimated average cost basis of $81,722.

Oil, a Trump and Xi Summit, and a Market That Shrugged Off the Fed

Oil set the tone. Brent fell for a fourth straight session as diplomatic efforts to cool tensions between Washington and Tehran picked up. Trump said he was open to meeting the Iranian president at the UN General Assembly, which eased inflation worries across markets.

Traders also positioned ahead of a Trump and Xi Jinping summit scheduled later this week. The Nasdaq closed 2.8% higher, its best day since early August, and the S&P 500 added 0.9%.

None of this came with easier money. Last Wednesday, the Fed delivered its first rate hike since 2023, lifting the top of its target range to 4%. Days later, Bitcoin reclaimed $81,000 despite the Clarity Act failure. Neither the hike nor the Senate vote stopped the climb.

Corporate buyers returned too. Strategy, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, resumed purchases after a three-week pause with 950 BTC for $75.7M. Strive added 1,355 BTC for $107.7M and now holds 26,355. Strategy stock rose 9% and Coinbase gained between 5% and 6%.

Other calculations put that ETF cost basis at $82,225, a level the Bitcoin price also cleared for the first time since January. One bitcoin now buys 19.8 ounces of gold. Year to date, BTC is still down 2%, and it needs to clear $87,000 to turn positive for 2026.

The quality of the buying matters as much as the size. In its analysis posted on X, Glassnode says spot buyers are leading the trend. Leverage is slowly rebuilding in options, while funding rates on perpetual futures remain below neutral. For now, the Bitcoin price is climbing on real demand first.

Also on Cryptonomic:

• Hyperliquid’s HYPE Hits a Record Above $90
• Bitcoin Reclaims $81,000 Despite the Clarity Act Failure
• Zcash Price Hits a Record as Paradigm Reveals It Holds ZEC

A 44% Quarter That Still Leaves the Bitcoin Price Below Its Record

Over the third quarter the Bitcoin price is up 44%, its best run since the fourth quarter of 2024. Gold gained 8.7% over the same stretch, and both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 2%. Ether, XRP, Solana, Uniswap and NEAR posted gains between 40% and 150%.

That still leaves BTC 48% below its October 2025 record near $126,000. In late August, Bitcoin broke $80,000 in its best week since 2023, and the broader trend did not turn for good then either.

In the short term, the Bitcoin price now rides on the leverage that just came back. With more than $31B of futures open interest, a sharp pullback would hit longs this time. The macro calendar is busy: US jobless claims land on Thursday, then durable goods orders and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading on Friday.

The crypto calendar is full as well. On Tuesday, the SEC opens its five-year pilot window allowing select venues to trade tokenized stocks on public blockchains. The same day, 1.3% of TON’s circulating supply unlocks, worth $51.2M, and on Wednesday Humanity releases 14.7% of its supply, worth $20.8M. None of these targets the Bitcoin price directly, but each one tests risk appetite.

Further out, the outcome of the Trump and Xi summit and the path of oil will shape risk appetite. Corporate treasury buying adds support, but it arrives in bursts. The Bitcoin price is back at its January level, and holding it after this liquidation wave is the real test.

Follow the story on Cryptonomic.