Bitcoin Tops $80,000 Before Weak U.S. Data

Bitcoin climbed above $80,000 on Sept. 18, trading around $80,856 and up about 5.6% over 24 hours. The rebound began during European trading and extended into U.S. stock-market hours.

Technology-heavy equity benchmarks were firmer and oil prices eased during the session. The Bank of Japan voted 7–2 to raise its overnight call-rate target to 1.25% from 1%, effective Sept. 24. The dollar was quoted near 156.15–156.17 yen at 1 a.m. BST and about 157.48–157.50 yen at 9 a.m. BST, indicating yen weakness across the announcement window.

Yen weakness reduces pressure on yen-funded carry positions. The U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points earlier in the week.

U.S. data released that afternoon showed industrial production unchanged in August and manufacturing output down 0.3%. The leading economic index fell 0.1%, compared with expectations for a 0.1% increase. The 10-year Treasury yield was about 4.976% before the U.S. open.

U.S. spot-Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $159.5 million on Sept. 17, led by the BlackRock IBIT fund while other funds showed withdrawals that reduced the overall total. Those inflows followed net outflows on Sept. 15 and 16. Daily ETF totals do not specify the exact timing of purchases or the ultimate source of buying.

CoinGlass reported roughly $230.6 million in Bitcoin futures liquidations over 24 hours and about $56.36 billion in open interest. Liquidation figures include both long and short positions; without a breakdown by side and matching funding data, the liquidation total alone does not identify whether forced short-covering played a role.

A conditional exemption for tokenized stocks announced earlier applies to certain trading venues and liquidity providers and does not grant approvals for Bitcoin or Bitcoin ETFs.

The price advance was visible before the weaker U.S. economic releases and occurred alongside the factors described above.