Bitcoin rises above $85,000 to highest level since January

Bitcoin rose above $85,000 on Monday as the cryptocurrency continued a sharp rally over the previous few days. It was trading at $84,256 around 06:35 a.m. ET, up about 3.8%, according to CoinMetrics, after reaching $85,229 earlier in the day, its highest level since late January. Investors are assessing whether the crypto winter, described as a depressed period for digital asset prices, has ended. The period began after bitcoin reached an all-time high of over $126,000 in October 2025. Matt Hougan, CIO at Bitwise, said the crypto winter is over and called the current period crypto spring. He said investors may see the strongest and longest-running bull market in crypto's history. Bitcoin remains down this year, but it has risen more than 7% over the last 5 days and nearly 35% over the last 3 months. It remains well below its record high. Hougan said cryptocurrency fundamentals improved during the price decline because of increased blockchain transactions and involvement from major firms such as BlackRock. He said prices may catch up toward the end of the year and that bitcoin may not remain below its all-time highs next year. BTIG analysts said bitcoin bulls could target a move through $82,000 toward $90,000 as long as the $75,000 level holds. Crypto-related stocks, including Strategy and Coinbase, were higher in U.S. premarket trading on Monday. The rally came as the U.S. Senate blocked the Clarity Act from advancing last week. The legislation would have created a U.S. framework for crypto and divided industry oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Hougan said the bill's failure could still support prices because the SEC and CFTC will set the rules for now. He also said investors were rotating out of AI stocks and back into crypto after the AI boom had drawn momentum-focused investors away from the sector.