Bitcoin Just Reclaimed a Line It Had Not Crossed in Nine Months

Bitcoin has delivered the kind of move that forces even skeptical traders to look twice.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency pushed near $73,000 on Thursday and climbed back above its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2025. That is more than another round-number milestone.

It is one of the market’s most closely watched dividing lines between a long-term downtrend and a possible change in direction.

Cointelegraph reported that Bitcoin had gained more than 13% since Wednesday as the rally gathered speed. The move took BTC through a level it had remained below for roughly nine months, after the market’s long retreat from the October 2025 all-time high above $126,000.

The crossover arrived roughly ten months after that record and marked the first move above the long-term average since November 2025. Bitcoin traded near $73,000 as the level gave way, showing that the rebound had become more than a brief intraday bounce.

The report also placed the move in the context of a market that is still rebuilding after a deep drawdown. Crossing the average weakens the old bearish structure, but the article correctly noted that the move still needs confirmation before it can be treated as a durable trend change.

JUST IN 🚨: Bitcoin $BTC gets above 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2025 📈 🤑 🥳 pic.twitter.com/vAhNTT2wfc

— Barchart (@Barchart) August 20, 2026

The 200-day moving average smooths out months of daily price noise. Traders use it as a simple way to judge whether an asset’s longer-term trend is improving or deteriorating.

Moving above it can draw fresh attention from trend-following investors, but the first break is not a guarantee that a new bull market has begun.

The next test is whether Bitcoin can stay above the line after the first burst of buying. A quick reversal would make Thursday’s crossover look like another failed rally.

Several strong closes above it—and a successful retest when the market cools—would carry far more weight.

The broader backdrop is also helping. Cointelegraph reported that the U.S. Treasury would at least double liquidity-support buybacks for longer-dated Treasury securities, raising the maximum from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation beginning September 9.

The announcement initially pulled long-term yields lower and improved appetite for risk assets.

That does not mean Treasury buybacks automatically send Bitcoin higher. It does mean liquidity conditions—often one of crypto’s strongest tailwinds—have moved back to the center of the conversation.

There is another encouraging signal beneath the price action. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said Bitcoin demand had turned positive in both spot and perpetual-futures markets for the first time since the October 2025 peak.

He also stressed that the scale remains modest and needs to hold for longer before anyone can confidently declare the bear market finished.

For the first time since the October 2025 ATH, Bitcoin demand has turned positive in both spot and perpetual futures.

The scale remains modest, but if this holds for another month, it would be reasonable to conclude that the bear market is over and a new bull cycle has begun. pic.twitter.com/e8TAqeLySd

— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) August 20, 2026

That caution is the right frame for this rally. Bitcoin remains the No. 1 cryptocurrency by market value, with CoinGecko data showing a market capitalization near $1.47 trillion during Thursday evening’s move.

When an asset that large gains double digits in barely more than a day, it can reset sentiment across the entire crypto market.

But the cleanest signal now is not a prediction. It is behavior.

Watch whether buyers defend the reclaimed 200-day average, whether spot demand remains positive, and whether the rally can absorb profit-taking without losing the level it just fought nine months to recover.

Bitcoin has finally crossed the line. Holding it is the part that would turn an exciting rally into something much bigger.

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