Bitcoin tops $86,000, analysts call start of "new bull market"

Bitcoin spiked above $86,000 after Monday's Wall Street open, gaining nearly 6 percent on the day as US stocks rose amid falling oil prices.

Data showed Bitcoin hitting a new 33-week high of $86,332 on Bitstamp. The move followed Sunday's weekly close at $81,120, itself Bitcoin's highest level since early May, as oil prices continued dropping from late last week.

Signals from both Qatar's Foreign Ministry and US President Donald Trump that diplomatic talks to end the US-Iran war could resume helped push WTI crude oil as low as $91.59 a barrel on Monday. JPMorgan analysts noted in a Friday note, cited by CNBC and others, that "Middle East oil flows remain surprisingly strong despite the disruption to Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline." A separate New York Times report claimed the US planned to extend its trade deal with China by six months ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit on 23-25 September. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 1 percent and 1.6 percent respectively at the time of writing.

Bitcoin's rally has fueled increasingly bullish commentary on its longer-term outlook. Trading resource The Kobeissi Letter described crypto as being "in a new bull market" in an analysis on X, pointing to a 50 percent gain for Bitcoin over just two months, as crypto short liquidations approached $800 million over 24 hours.

Bitfinex Alpha, the research arm of crypto exchange Bitfinex, flagged buyer support, rising open interest, and fresh capital inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs as three conditions needed for further upside. "For a breakout to be validated, we would want to see net taker buying rather than the profit-taking that capped the advances on 18 and 19 September," the firm said in a Monday blog post, adding that a daily close below $77,100 would invalidate the bullish structure and expose the "True Market Mean" at $76,677.

Crypto trader and analyst Rekt Capital said Bitcoin had broken out of a pattern of lower highs in place since October 2025, along with its broader macro downtrend, identifying a new target trading range between $86,681 and $93,659.