Bitcoin Surpasses $85k, Raising Hopes for End of Crypto Winter

Bitcoin's price has surpassed $85,000 on Monday, September 21, marking its highest level since late January. The cryptocurrency has seen a sharp rally over the past several days, with prices gaining more than 7% over the past five days and nearly 35% over the last three months.

According to CoinMetrics, Bitcoin was trading at around $84,256, up about 3.8%. Despite this surge, it remains below its record high of over $126,000 reached in October 2025.

Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, believes that the 'crypto winter' may be coming to an end, referring to the prolonged period of weak digital asset prices. He points to increased blockchain activity and growing involvement from major financial companies as evidence of improvement in cryptocurrency fundamentals.

Hougan expects prices to catch up with these improvements later this year, although he notes that the recent failure of the Clarity Act, a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, may not necessarily mean weaker regulation for the crypto industry. He also suggests that investors' attention may be shifting from artificial intelligence stocks back to cryptocurrencies.