Bitcoin Posts Best-Peforming Q3 Since 2017 As $85K BTC Price Sell Wall Clears

Bitcoin (BTC) finished the third quarter of 2026 with its strongest July-to-September result since 2017, then carried that momentum into early October by absorbing a dense band of offers near $85,000 and trading back toward its best levels of the year.

Soft US hiring data released the same week added a weaker labor backdrop to the move.

Quarterly performance data compiled by CoinGlass put the third-quarter gain in the low-to-mid 40 percent range, far above the single-digit average that has characterized most third quarters since 2013.

Only 2017 produced a larger third-quarter advance, when the price rose roughly 80 percent.

The 2026 result also reversed two consecutive quarterly losses from the first half of the year and stood out against a season that has often been one of bitcoin’s weaker stretches.

Order-book conditions shifted as that quarterly close gave way to October.

On-chain analytics firm Glassnode said buyers cleared the sell wall sitting over $85,000 after nearly a week of unsuccessful tests.

Part of those resting asks was filled; the remainder appeared to be withdrawn.

With less offer liquidity immediately overhead, Glassnode said price could travel higher more readily.

Subsequent readings placed the next visible cluster of sell orders near $87,000, about half the size of the wall that had capped the market around $85,000.