“It’s Dead”: Bitcoin Payments Vanish at Bitcoin Beach as BTC Tops $80K

Bitcoin trades near $79,000 on August 25, up roughly 24% from $64,146 just one week ago, its largest weekly gain in more than three years. It tagged $79,463 overnight, putting the $80,000 psychological wall within striking distance.

The crypto winter narrative that dominated 2026 didn't fade. It got steamrolled in five trading days.

Now the question is whether this is the launchpad or the trap, and the answer likely arrives Friday.

The $1.92 Billion ETF Stampede

The demand side finally showed up. US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in about $1.918 billion over five sessions through August 21, their strongest weekly inflow of 2026 and the best stretch since Bitcoin's October record above $126,000.

August 20 alone brought $606.3 million, the biggest single day in over three months, with BlackRock's IBIT swallowing $1.3 billion of the weekly haul.

The whiplash is the story: the prior week saw nearly $390 million in outflows, the worst in six weeks. The honest caveat still stands, though. Even after this surge, roughly $2.9 billion has drained from the funds in 2026. One monster week repairs sentiment, not the whole year.

"We saw net inflows on every trading day last week, which suggests renewed investor interest in Bitcoin." - Gracie Lin, CEO, OKX SG