Bitcoin rose above $85,000 on Monday, extending its sharp gains from the past few days and reaching its highest level since late January. According to CoinMetrics, the cryptocurrency was trading at $84,256 at around 06:35 a.m. ET, up about 3.8%. Earlier in the session, it climbed as high as $85,229.
Investors are now weighing whether the so-called “crypto winter” — a prolonged period of depressed digital asset prices — has come to an end. That downturn began after Bitcoin hit an all-time high of more than $126,000 in October 2025.
Matt Hougan, CIO at Bitwise, told CNBC that he believes the downturn is over. In his view, the market has entered “crypto spring,” and investors may be seeing the start of what could become the strongest and longest-running bull market in the history of crypto.
Bitcoin is still down for the year, but it has gained more than 7% over the past 5 days and nearly 35% over the last 3 months. Even so, it remains well below its record high.
Hougan argued that even while prices were falling, crypto fundamentals were improving. He pointed to higher transaction activity across blockchains and deeper involvement from major firms such as BlackRock. In his view, the market went through an unusual period in which a cyclical price decline coincided with a longer-term improvement in fundamentals, and prices could begin catching up with that shift by year-end.
He also said he does not expect Bitcoin to remain below its all-time highs next year. Separately, BTIG analysts said in a note published Sunday that if Bitcoin holds the $75,000 level, bulls could push through $82,000 and then target $90,000.
The rally also lifted crypto-linked equities. Shares of Strategy and Coinbase were higher in U.S. premarket trading.
Rotation out of AI?
The move higher comes even after the U.S. Senate last week blocked the Clarity Act from advancing. The bill would have created a regulatory framework for crypto in the U.S. and split oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Clearer regulation in the U.S. has previously supported crypto prices, including the Genius Act passed last year. But Hougan said the failure of the Clarity Act could also help the market for now, because the SEC and CFTC will continue setting the rules.
He said the current SEC and CFTC are the most pro-crypto in U.S. history, meaning that, paradoxically, the absence of the Clarity Act could result in even more favorable regulation for the sector.
Hougan also said some investors are rotating out of AI-related stocks and back into crypto. In his view, the AI boom had absorbed most of the attention of momentum-driven investors, but now that enthusiasm has leveled off, some of that capital is moving back into digital assets.
