coindesk.com
Crypto bulls enjoyed one of their strongest weeks in years, with bitcoin gaining 23.6% last week.
Bitcoin surged from around $62,000 to as high as $79,500 before settling near $77,000. It was bitcoin’s second-best weekly performance since February 2021, surpassed only by its rally after the Silicon Valley Bank crisis in March 2023.
Ether performed even better, climbing 31.3% from below $1,900 to above $2,520 before retreating just below $2,500.
The scale of the rally partly reflected the market conditions preceding it. Crypto had spent several months consolidating, while volatility continued to bleed to low levels and investors steadily accumulated.
This compression created the conditions for an explosive move, as positioning had become increasingly sensitive to any catalyst capable of breaking prices out of their ranges. That catalyst arrived when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an expansion of Treasury bond buybacks, pushing yields and the dollar lower, supporting risk assets.
U.S.-listed spot ETFs added further momentum. Bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.92 billion of net inflows during the week, their largest weekly total since Oct. 10, when bitcoin was just shy of its record high of $126,000. Ether ETFs recorded $697 million of inflows, their strongest week since early October 2025.
The rally carried both bitcoin and ether above their 200-day simple moving averages, a widely followed indicator of an asset’s long-term trend. While, their shorter-term moving averages are also beginning to turn higher, raising the prospect of a “golden cross”, which occurs when the 50-day moving average crosses above the 200-day average and is commonly viewed as a bullish momentum signal.
Narrative often follows price, and talk of the “debasement trade” is returning. The term describes investors moving into scarce assets, such as bitcoin and gold, to protect against the erosion of fiat currency purchasing power caused by rising debt, money creation or persistent inflation. Gold has climbed back above $4,600, gaining 15% over the past month and moving above its 200-day average of $4,504.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index, or DXY, which measures the dollar against a basket of major currencies, has fallen to 98.9 and slipped below its 200-day average of 99.1. A weaker dollar and lower yields have provided an additional tailwind for crypto, gold and other risk assets.