Bitcoin just had its strongest week in more than three years. The price touched a Friday high of $79,400 before settling near $78,000. That caps a run of roughly 24% since Monday, the best weekly showing since March 2023. Anyone who’s watched crypto bounce between $70,000 and $75,000 for weeks just saw that pattern break wide open.
What’s Behind the Bitcoin Price Rally in 2026
So what actually moved the needle? A softer than expected US inflation reading gave traders a reason to bet on easier Fed policy. A weaker jobs report added to that case. On top of it all, the US Treasury doubled its bond buybacks this week, a move meant to pull down long-term yields and calm a jittery bond market.
Lower yields tend to push money toward riskier assets. Bitcoin was an obvious beneficiary. The dollar index slipped to 98.77 as the rally built, and that only added fuel. Political momentum played a role too, since Washington spent the week debating fresh crypto legislation.
Altcoins Catch a Ride Higher, Just Not as High
Ethereum-linked token Ethena jumped 56% for the week to $0.1320. Zcash climbed 31.5% to $640, and Chainlink gained 32% to $11.56. XRP repositioned sharply too, up 19% on a 139% jump in trading volume, while NEAR added a more modest 8.6% to reach $1.92.
Here’s the twist, though. Despite those gains, the altcoin season index actually fell to 33 from 36. That happens when bitcoin outruns the rest of the market, even while altcoins climb in dollar terms. Bitcoin dominance, in other words, is still very much the story.
Wall Street Money Is Coming Back
Spot bitcoin ETFs in the US pulled in $606 million in net inflows on Thursday alone. That’s the largest single day since May 1. Weekly inflows are running at their highest pace since October, and that kind of institutional buying tends to reinforce a rally rather than just ride along with it.
Meanwhile, the derivatives market tells its own story. Total liquidations over 24 hours came in at $1.24 billion, down sharply from Wednesday’s $3.3 billion. Short positions accounted for $1.06 billion of that total. Open interest in bitcoin futures climbed 7.38% to $57.7 billion, and funding rates hit their highest level since January. Traders who bet against this move got squeezed hard, and that short covering helped turn a rally into a surge.
Why $80,000 Is the Next Test for This Bitcoin Price Rally
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, put it plainly. This rally is “primarily a macro story rather than a crypto specific one,” he said. He’s also flagged $80,000 as an important boundary.
Getting past that level convincingly probably needs one more thing: confirmation that the Fed is done tightening. That could come into sharper focus at the Fed’s upcoming Jackson Hole gathering. Butterfill added a note of caution too, pointing out that accumulation by large holders is still modest in scale. Weekend liquidity tends to thin out besides, leaving prices exposed to sudden headlines out of the Middle East or elsewhere.
Regulatory news added its own push this week. The administration spent days pushing Congress to pass the Clarity Act, the crypto oversight bill that’s been stuck in the Senate for months. Traders treated the renewed momentum as one more reason to buy.
There’s also a longer-term signal worth watching. CryptoQuant tracks a measure of 30-day spot demand that had been deeply negative, sitting at minus 206,000 BTC back on July 23. It’s since recovered to roughly minus 5,000, edging toward its first positive crossover since late February. Historically, once that indicator flips positive, bitcoin has delivered a median 18% gain over the following 60 days with a 78% win rate. CryptoQuant notes those odds improve further under current valuation conditions, though the firm is upfront that the sample size is small and the signal hasn’t fully completed yet.
What This Bitcoin Price Rally 2026 Means for Canadian Investors
It’s worth remembering how differently this cycle read just a month ago. This site covered the opposite pattern in July, when the dollar was climbing and bitcoin’s price kept sliding in response. That dynamic flipped fast, and it’s a useful reminder of how tightly crypto still trades alongside macro conditions.
For Canadians holding bitcoin through an exchange or a listed ETF, the practical takeaway isn’t to chase the candle. Rallies built on short covering and rate speculation can reverse just as fast as they build. That risk grows heading into a thinner trading weekend. Watching what the Fed signals next tends to serve investors better than watching the price alone.
Whether $77,000 turns out to be a stepping stone or a ceiling won’t be clear for another week or two. Either way, it’s a rally worth paying attention to.
