Bitcoin closed August 2026 with a 24.95% gain, snapping a four-year streak of August losses that included double-digit drops in 2022 and 2023. The rally broke a bear-market pattern observed in previous post-peak years, as the flagship cryptocurrency rose from the low $60,000s to above $81,000 before settling near $78,600. Despite the monthly gain, Bitcoin remains down 38% from its October 2025 all-time high above $126,000. The third quarter is also up nearly 33%, though still far from 2017’s 80% surge. Geopolitical tensions and hawkish Fed remarks briefly pushed prices below $77,000, but the asset recovered to trade near $78,000.
Bitcoin concluded August 2026 with a 24.95% gain, according to CoinGlass data, breaking a run of four consecutive August losses that included two straight double-digit drops in 2022 and 2023. The month’s performance is the best August since 2017, when Bitcoin surged more than 65%.
Ash Crypto noted the unusual monthly candle, stating, “BITCOIN JUST CLOSED AUGUST GREEN FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN A BEAR MARKET.” The analyst’s chart, based on Bitstamp data, compares August performances after Bitcoin’s major cycle highs — August 2014 fell 18%, August 2018 lost 9%, and August 2022 dropped 14%.
The distinction is important because the chart does not establish that Bitcoin has entered a new bull market. Instead, it shows that August behaved differently from the same point in the previous three post-peak cycles, with the asset’s last all-time high at just past $126,000 in October 2025.
The third quarter is also shaping up positively, with the same CoinGlass data showing it up nearly 33%, though one month remains. That uptick is only bettered by the same period in 2017, which saw Bitcoin’s value rise more than 80%.
Bitcoin dipped below $77,000 as fresh attacks in the Middle East revived geopolitical tension, then clawed back most of that loss soon after. The dip followed a productive patch last week when the cryptocurrency pushed past $81,000 to its highest level in over three months, only to be rejected after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish remarks at Jackson Hole.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading near $78,000, barely moving in 24 hours. Although the price reflected a weekly loss of about 2.5%, it was still up more than 23% over the past month.
Dominance over the rest of the crypto market has climbed above 58%, with a market cap near $1.57 trillion. Zoomed out, Bitcoin remains down close to 29% for the year and more than 38% below its October 2025 all-time high.
