Bitcoin Price Today Falls Toward $84,000 as Treasury Yields End the Eight-Month-High Rally

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin retreated more than 2% toward $84,000 after reaching an eight-month high near $87,300.
• The 10-year US Treasury yield climbed above 5.1%, increasing pressure on cryptocurrencies and other risk-sensitive assets.
• Strong US business activity revived expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike, while higher oil prices added to inflation concerns.
• Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows remain strong, but a $15.9 billion options expiry could generate additional volatility.

Bitcoin fell toward $84,000 on Thursday, surrendering part of its recent rally as surging US Treasury yields reduced investor appetite for cryptocurrencies and other speculative assets.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency traded near $83,900 during Asian hours, down more than 2% over 24 hours and roughly 4% below this week’s peak near $87,300. That peak was Bitcoin’s highest level in eight months and briefly brought the token close to erasing its losses for the year.

The pullback followed a sharp sell-off in the US bond market. The 10-year Treasury yield closed above 5.1%, its highest level since 2007, after strong economic data and rising oil prices strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates again.

The decline spread across the cryptocurrency market. Ether, Solana and BNB fell between 2% and 3%, while XRP and several smaller tokens recorded steeper losses. Crypto-related equities also weakened, with Strategy, Coinbase and Circle declining alongside Bitcoin. CoinDesk reported that higher government bond yields were increasing pressure on both non-yielding and leveraged assets.

Bitcoin Retreats From an Eight-Month High

Bitcoin’s reversal interrupted a powerful rally that had carried the cryptocurrency above $85,000 for the first time since January.

The advance was supported by renewed spot ETF inflows, institutional purchases and a broader recovery in technology stocks. Improving regulatory expectations also helped Bitcoin overcome the failure of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act to advance in the US Senate.

Bitcoin had gained more than 8% over five trading sessions, substantially outperforming major US equity indexes. The move attracted momentum traders and forced bearish positions to close, adding short-covering demand to an already stronger spot market.

However, the rally struggled after Bitcoin approached the $87,000 to $90,000 region. This area contains several large options strikes and has emerged as an important resistance zone.

The latest decline does not necessarily mean that the broader recovery has ended. Bitcoin remains well above the levels recorded earlier in September, while institutional demand through exchange-traded funds continues to absorb part of the selling pressure. Nevertheless, the move shows that macroeconomic conditions remain capable of overriding crypto-specific catalysts.

Why Rising Treasury Yields Are Hurting Bitcoin

Higher Treasury yields affect Bitcoin through several channels.

US government bonds are generally treated as low-risk investments. When the 10-year yield rises above 5%, investors can earn a significant return without accepting the volatility associated with cryptocurrencies. That increases the opportunity cost of holding Bitcoin, which does not pay interest or generate cash flow.

Rising yields also increase financing costs for leveraged traders and institutional investors. Positions that appeared attractive when borrowing costs were lower may be reduced as interest rates rise, potentially intensifying declines across crypto futures and options markets.

The bond-market sell-off also weighed on US equities. The Nasdaq Composite declined approximately 1.1%, while the S&P 500 lost more than 0.5%. Bitcoin has recently traded more closely with technology shares than with traditional inflation hedges such as gold, making weakness in growth stocks another source of pressure.

The benchmark 10-year yield climbed to 5.054% during Wednesday’s US session before closing near 5.1%. The two-year yield, which is more sensitive to Federal Reserve policy expectations, advanced to 4.862%, its highest level since June 2024. Reuters reported that markets raised the probability of an October rate increase to 73%, compared with 53% earlier in the session.

Strong US PMI Revives Fed Rate-Hike Expectations

The latest increase in yields followed unexpectedly strong US business activity data.

S&P Global’s flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 58.4 in September from 56.0 in August. It was the highest reading since July 2021 and indicated a rapid expansion across both the manufacturing and services sectors.

Strong economic activity can support corporate earnings, but it also creates a problem for the Federal Reserve. Resilient demand and employment could allow inflation to remain above the central bank’s 2% target, strengthening the case for additional monetary tightening.

Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr added to those concerns by saying policymakers would probably need to deliver further rate increases to control inflation.

Oil prices also contributed to the sell-off in bonds. Brent crude rebounded toward $104 per barrel as uncertainty surrounding the Iran conflict returned to the market. Higher energy costs could raise transportation and production expenses, complicating the Fed’s attempt to bring inflation down.

A poorly received $70 billion auction of five-year Treasury notes intensified the move. The auction cleared at a yield of 5.033%, the highest since 2006, as investors demanded additional compensation to hold US government debt.

Bitcoin ETF Inflows Remain a Source of Support

Despite the macroeconomic pressure, demand for US spot Bitcoin ETFs remains strong.

The funds attracted approximately $999 million on September 21, followed by another $714.7 million on September 22. The two-session total of more than $1.7 billion represented one of the strongest institutional buying periods of 2026.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust received around $350 million on September 22, while Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund added approximately $257 million. Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF recorded close to $99 million of inflows, and none of the tracked funds reported net redemptions that day. FinanceFeeds, citing finalized fund-flow data, placed cumulative net inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs at almost $57 billion.

These inflows may explain why Bitcoin’s decline has so far remained relatively orderly despite the sharp rise in yields.

Continued ETF buying would strengthen the argument that the move toward $84,000 is a short-term correction rather than the beginning of a larger reversal. A slowdown or shift to net outflows, however, would remove an important source of demand.

$15.9 Billion Options Expiry Could Increase Volatility

Traders are also preparing for one of the largest Bitcoin options expiries of the year.

Approximately $15.9 billion of Bitcoin options are scheduled to expire on Deribit at 8:00 UTC on Friday, September 25. An additional $2.1 billion of Ether options will settle at the same time.

The Bitcoin options book is heavily tilted toward bullish positions. Its put-to-call open-interest ratio stands at 0.69, while large concentrations of call options are located at $85,000, $90,000, $95,000 and $100,000.

More than half of the $9.4 billion in expiring Bitcoin call options were in the money before the latest pullback. Dealers that sold those calls may have purchased Bitcoin as the price climbed to remain hedged, potentially adding momentum to the rally.

Once the contracts expire, that hedging demand could disappear. Deribit executives told CoinDesk that the settlement could remove a source of buying pressure and allow short-term volatility to increase.

Bitcoin Price Levels to Watch

The $84,000 area is Bitcoin’s first immediate support level. A sustained break below it could bring $82,000 to $82,500 into focus.

That region is important because it acted as resistance before the latest breakout. Holding above it would preserve the pattern of higher short-term lows and leave the broader recovery intact.

If sellers push Bitcoin below $82,000, the next major psychological level would be $80,000. A close below that threshold could indicate that the eight-month-high breakout has failed and expose a deeper correction.

On the upside, Bitcoin must first recover $85,000. A move above $86,500 would improve near-term momentum and allow another test of the recent peak around $87,300. Beyond that, $90,000 remains the most significant resistance target.

The main scenarios are:

• Bitcoin holds $82,000 to $84,000: Strong ETF demand could stabilize the market and support another attempt to reclaim $85,000.
• Bitcoin breaks below $82,000: Rising yields and the removal of options-related hedging could accelerate the decline toward $80,000.
• Bitcoin recovers above $87,300: A new eight-month high could bring $90,000 into focus and restart momentum buying.

Bitcoin’s next move will depend on whether institutional inflows can offset a more restrictive interest-rate environment. For now, the surge in Treasury yields has halted the eight-month-high rally, but the strength of ETF demand means the broader bullish trend has not yet been decisively broken.