The leading cryptocurrency has stabilized at this level and is poised to close out the third quarter with the second-best performance in its history. The main reasons for this stability are steady demand from institutional investors and high activity in the spot market.
According to Investing.com, on Sunday morning, the BTC price stood at $84,626.50, showing a 0.84% increase over the past 24 hours. Looking at the entire third quarter, the total return was approximately 43.5%, as the coin was trading at just around $58,500 in early July.
As noted by Bitcoin.com, this period has been Bitcoin’s most successful in recent years, excluding 2017, when returns reached 80%. Meanwhile, Ethereum rose by approximately 71% over the same period, which could set a historic record for this altcoin.
What Helped the Market Hold Steady: Options Expiration and Calls for Reform
First, Bitcoin weathered Friday’s quarterly options expiration calmly, without any sharp price swings. The market was supported by spot buying and moderate profit-taking ahead of the close of September trading.
Second, Michael Saylor once again spoke about the importance of large players’ participation. The MicroStrategy CEO called on U.S. regulators to allow banks to hold Bitcoin and issue loans secured by it. In his view, the current rules are too strict. In particular, he criticized the 1,250% risk weighting for crypto assets and proposed separating the requirements for custodial services, lending, and banks’ proprietary trading operations.
The Bitget Incident: Security Concerns and Withdrawal Timelines
The issue of cybersecurity has once again come to the forefront following the $387.5 million hack of the Bitget exchange. According to CoinDesk, by Saturday, the hacker had already transferred approximately $83 million in XRP tokens through three wallets, while another $75 million remained in the receiving addresses.
Ripple explained that it would not be possible to directly freeze the stolen funds, as the security features of smart contracts on the XRP Ledger do not apply to the network’s native asset. However, centralized exchanges may well block accounts that receive the stolen coins.
Bitget itself reassured users, stating that all client funds are secure and that losses will be covered by a special fund. Withdrawals will begin to resume gradually: September 28 for Bitcoin, September 29 for Ethereum, and September 30 for USDT.
How Altcoins Are Performing
On Sunday, the altcoin market saw mixed performance:
Ethereum (ETH): $2,704.21 (+0.66%)
XRP: $1.5190 (-2.02%)
Solana (SOL): $121.11 (+0.49%)
BNB: $773.70 (+0.09%)
Cardano (ADA): $0.2530 (-0.78%)
Dogecoin (DOGE): -1.19%
The fact that Bitcoin is holding above $84,000, despite derivatives settlements and negative news, provides excellent momentum ahead of the start of the fourth quarter.