Bitcoin briefly climbed above $85,000 on September 21 2026 reaching its highest level since January 2026 as a recovery from last week’s selloff accelerated and a sharp rise in short-position liquidations added momentum to the move.
Bitcoin gained more than 5% over 24 hours, briefly trading above $85,000 before easing back.
#Bitcoin back to $85K. $BTC pic.twitter.com/zcxGtc2sAJ
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) September 21, 2026
The move followed a recovery from around $75,000 on September 15 2026 to above $80,000 on September 18 2026. Bitcoin remains about 32.5% below its October 2025 record high near $126,000 while its year-to-date loss has narrowed to less than 3%, according to industry reports.
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More than $750 million in crypto positions were liquidated over the previous 24 hours with short positions accounting for $648.3 million, CoinGlass data showed. Bitcoin positions represented $360.7 million of the liquidations, including an $11.3 million single liquidation on Binance’s BTCUSDT market.
The broader crypto market also rallied.
- Ether rose about 5.6% over 24 hours to around $2,717, while
- XRP gained 7.8% to $1.49, and
- Solana rose 7.2% to about $115.75.
The move came as global risk assets strengthened.
Asian and European equities advanced while U.S. stock futures also moved higher. Lower oil prices helped ease pressure on markets following last week’s Federal Reserve interest rate hike while investors were also watching developments around U.S.-Iran diplomacy and a planned meeting between U.S. President, Donald Trump and Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
The rally also follows renewed buying in U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The funds recorded $433 million in net inflows on September 18 2026 helping them finish the week with a modest $6.2 million net inflow after substantial withdrawals earlier in the week.
The rally also comes amid fresh moves by U.S. regulators to advance cryptocurrency and blockchain rules despite the Senate’s failure to move forward with the CLARITY Act.
CRYPTO MARKETS | Crypto Stocks Rebound as U.S. Regulators Advance Rules After CLARITY Setback
The developments offer a regulatory path for parts of the crypto industry even as comprehensive legislation remains stalled in Congress. The SEC has said it intends to continue its crypto rulemaking agenda regardless of the CLARITY Act’s progress.
The combination of crypto regulation clarity, renewed bitcoin buying, and forced covering of bearish positions has helped push the cryptocurrency back toward levels last seen at the start of the year although it remains well below its record high.
See also
CRYPTO MARKETS | The CLARITY Act Was a Significant Market-Positioning Event
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