Bitcoin (BTC) rose 23.58% last week, its best week since 2023. The move added $14,833, the largest dollar gain of any week in Bitcoin’s history.
BTC trades near $79,000 at the time of writing, up 1.8% over 24 hours. The weekly candle broke a descending trendline stretching back to the October 2025 record high.
Bitcoin’s Best Week Since 2023 Breaks a 10-Month Downtrend
Structurally, Bitcoin’s price bounced from the $63,000 to $66,000 support zone. It then cleared the descending resistance line drawn from the record high of $126,195. Price also pushed through the $74,000-$76,000 band, which should now serve as support.
Weekly volume expanded alongside the move, though it stayed below June’s peak. The BBWP indicator expanded from an extreme low to near-maximum volatility, and it continues to rise. Historically, such squeezes signal a large move without indicating its direction.
The daily chart carries the more durable signal. BTC reclaimed its 200-day moving average near $69,000. That level had capped every advance of the downtrend since last October.
Daily RSI now reads 82, its highest since 2024. However, momentum has stretched rather than reversed on its two most recent occurrences.
The nearest resistance sits at the $82,215 swing high, followed by the $85,000 to $87,000 zone. BTC remains roughly 38% below its record high.
Funding Rates Hit a 2026 High While Open Interest Lags
Derivatives data complicates the bullish read. Roughly $2.7 billion of shorts liquidated on August 19, when the US Treasury doubled its long-dated bond buybacks.
Glassnode data shows aggregate perpetual funding reaching its highest level in 2026 during the squeeze. In contrast, April’s advance toward $79,000 was accompanied by persistently negative funding.
Traders paid to stay short then. They now pay to stay long, which suggests positioning has flipped rather than moderated.
Open interest tells a different story. CoinGlass data puts exchange open interest near $57.5 billion, up from roughly $46.5 billion before the breakout.
That total still sits below the January peak near $65.3 billion and the May peak near $64 billion. Both readings preceded sharp corrections this year.
Leverage has therefore returned without reaching saturation. A climb toward $64 billion would indicate a crowded market again.
Meanwhile, a weekly hold above $74,000 keeps the breakout structure intact. Losing that band would shift the burden back to the $63,000 to $66,000 range.
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