On the Chain: Bitcoin holds near US$87,000 as ETF buying powers crypto rebound

Bitcoin is holding close to US$87,000 as institutional buying gathers pace, helping lift the global cryptocurrency market back above US$3 trillion for the first time since January.

The world's largest cryptocurrency was recently trading at about US$86,779, up around 2% over the latest session after reaching an intraday high of US$87,251.

Bitcoin has now climbed to its highest level in around eight months and is up about 8.8% during September, extending a recovery that began with a 25% gain in August.

The latest leg higher has been supported by a sharp return of institutional money to US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

Nearly US$1 billion pours into Bitcoin ETFs

US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted approximately US$999 million of net inflows on September 21, their strongest single trading day since October 2025.

That took inflows over three sessions to around US$1.59 billion, providing a significant source of demand as Bitcoin pushed through the US$85,000 level.

The buying has coincided with improving appetite for risk assets more broadly and follows a major short squeeze that accelerated Bitcoin's initial breakout.

Around US$650 million of cryptocurrency short positions were liquidated during the weekend rally, forcing bearish traders to buy assets back as prices rose.