Bitcoin Moved 140x Faster than Stocks This Week: $80,000 this Weekend?

Bitcoin (BTC) gained more than 20% in five days, delivering the stock market's average annual return about 140 times faster. The run then stalled at $79,500, just 0.6% short of $80,000.

BTC traded near $76,750 on Friday, up 6.6% on the day. That leaves $80,000 about 4% away. The daily relative strength index (RSI) sits at 84.64, its highest reading of 2026.

How Bitcoin Outran the Stock Market by 140 Times

The math is simple. Since 1928 the S&P 500 has compounded at 10.02% a year, dividends included, per New York University's Stern School dataset.

Spread across five days, that yearly gain works out to 0.137%. Bitcoin did 20% in the same window. Call it 140 times the pace.

Low to high, the run reached 27%. BTC is heading for its strongest weekly close in two years.

Speed is not recovery. BTC still trades 39% below its record $126,080, set in October 2025.

Washington lit the fuse. The Treasury said on August 19 it would at least double its long-end bond buybacks, from $2 billion per operation to $4 billion.

The purchases cover 10-year to 30-year debt and run from September 9 through November 4. Long yields had just touched 20-year highs. Bond desks read it as a backstop.

Leverage did the rest. Bearish traders lost $1.06 billion in a day as short positions unwound.