Bitcoin climbs above $85,000, highest since January, as regulatory moves ease uncertainty

Bitcoin jumped at the start of the week, touching its highest level since January, after moves by key US financial regulators last week eased investor uncertainty. Short covering and broader risk appetite added fuel to the rally.

The price of bitcoin advanced 4% to $84,671.80, according to Coin Metrics, after earlier rising as high as $85,229.44. Bloomberg reported that the token gained 5.1% to reach $85,222 in early New York trading on Monday. CoinMarketCap data showed it at $84,703.73 at the time

of writing, with market capitalisation at $1.7 trillion, up 5.33% over 24 hours. Coinbase, Circle and Strategy each gained 5% in premarket trading.

Bitcoin was not the only gainer. Ether, the second-largest token, rose more than 4.3% to $2,747, Bloomberg reported. CoinMarketCap showed it at $2,725.66, with a market cap of $332.79 billion, up 5.94%. Binance Coin was at $793.03, up 5.53%, while Tether traded at $0.9997, up 0.01%. XRP rose 8.12% to $1.48, Solana gained 7.88% to $116.86 and Monero climbed 9.99% to $576.10.

Key reasons behind the rally

Regulators step in: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday opened a temporary path for platforms to let people trade tokenised stocks. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) proposed a set of crypto market rules to the White House for review. Both regulators have begun the process of regulating crypto rather than waiting for Congress, two days after the landmark Clarity Act failed to advance in the Senate. This has reduced some of the perceived regulatory uncertainty.

Short covering: More than $300 million in short bitcoin positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass, amplifying the move.

Fed rate hike: Crypto is also benefiting as markets digest the US Federal Reserve's first interest rate hike in over three years.

Risk appetite: The rally is part of a week-long advance in broader markets, with bonds and stocks also rising. Falling oil prices, improving US-China relations and optimism ahead of the summit between US President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping have supported sentiment.

Bullish options positioning: Data from the options platform Deribit showed bitcoin open interest heavily dominated by calls, signalling bullish sentiment. There were more than 272,000 contracts for the right to buy the token, against over 154,000 puts, or the right to sell.

Can the momentum last?

Traders cited by Bloomberg are not convinced the week's gains will extend over the longer term. They point to difficult macroeconomic conditions, with crude oil still above $100 per barrel and US Treasury yields elevated.

Bitcoin remains well below its 2026 high of over $97,000 in mid-January, and further still from its October record. Retail investor enthusiasm has also proven hard to rekindle, as artificial intelligence stocks and other AI-linked trades compete for the same pool of speculative capital.

Also read: Dow soars over 300 points as cooling oil prices and bond yields lift Wall Street sentiment