Bitcoin and ethereum prices today, Wednesday, September 23, 2026: Crypto prices open near 8-month highs. Is the crypto winter over?

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) opened at $86,195.28 on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, flat compared to Tuesday's opening price. As of 7:26 a.m. ET this morning, the price of bitcoin moved lower to $85,600.03.

Ethereum (ETH-USD) opened at $2,753.25 on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, down 0.8% from Tuesday's opening price. The price of ethereum moved down this morning to $2,725.32 as of 7:26 a.m. ET.

Both bitcoin and ethereum prices opened again near 8-month highs this morning, as President Trump prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington this week.

Despite the pullback in crypto prices this morning, bitcoin's recent surge over $86,000 has at least one investor declaring the crypto winter is over:

"The BTC breakout is credible," Fundstrat head of digital assets Sean Farrell told Yahoo Finance on Monday. "I think the crypto winter is over, although that does not necessarily mean the path higher will be linear."

For now, momentum is on crypto's side, with bitcoin jumping more than 5% on Friday and another 6% on Monday.

"We believe crypto is in the early innings of a new bull market and we see few signs of overheating," Compass Point analyst Ed Engel wrote on Tuesday.

The move looks "like a combination of renewed ETF demand and a large short squeeze," Nicolai Søndergaard, senior research analyst at Nansen, said as traders betting against bitcoin are forced to buy it back, adding further fuel to the rally.