Bitcoin rose above $85,000 on Monday, trading at its highest level since late January, according to CNBC Africa. It was at $84,256 by mid-morning and had touched $85,229 earlier in the day, up around 3.8%. Over five days it had gained more than 7%, and nearly 35% over three months.
Context matters: bitcoin is still well below its record high of over $126,000, set in October 2025. It is also still down for the year. What investors are really debating is whether the long slump that followed that peak, the so-called “crypto winter,” is finally over.
The bull case
Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, told CNBC he thinks it is. “I do think it’s over, it’s crypto spring, the crocuses are blooming,” he said, adding that he expects “the strongest and longest-running bull market in crypto’s history.”
His argument is that prices fell on a cyclical downturn while the underlying fundamentals improved: more transactions across blockchains and growing involvement from major firms such as BlackRock. He expects prices to catch up toward the end of the year.
Analysts at BTIG said that as long as the $75,000 level holds, bulls could target a push toward $90,000.
The complication
The rally is happening even though the US Senate last week blocked the Clarity Act, a bill that would have set up a formal framework for crypto oversight in the US. That sounds bearish. Hougan argues it may not be: with the bill stalled, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission set the rules for now, and he calls both the most pro-crypto versions of those agencies in US history.
There is also a rotation story. Hougan said investors are moving money out of AI stocks and back into crypto, now that the AI boom has “levelled off.”
The African angle
For readers here, the practical point is not the price chart. It is that crypto sentiment swings hard, and the gap between a hopeful quote and a settled market is wide. In markets where currencies are volatile and access to traditional finance is uneven, digital assets draw real interest. They also draw real scams. Watch the regulation, the volumes and the infrastructure, not just the headline number.
Sources
- CNBC Africa, “Bitcoin hits highest level since January at $85,000, as the market debates whether the ‘crypto winter’ is over,” 21 September 2026 — https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2026/bitcoin-hits-highest-level-since-january-at-85000-as-the-market-debates-whether-the-crypto-winter-is-over
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