Bitcoin Holds Near $76,600 After Jump to $79,500; ETF Inflows and Short Covering Power the Move

CoinDesk reported that Bitcoin hovered around $76,600 on Aug. 23, after surging to $79,500 two days earlier. The recent rebound has revived debate over whether a bearish call made earlier this year ultimately missed the mark. Veteran trader Peter Brandt had warned in January, with Bitcoin near $92,400, that a pullback could take the price into the $58,000–$62,000 zone. That range was later reached during the 2026 drawdown: on July 1, Bitcoin briefly slid to about $57,700, with some prints near $58,300, then spent time around the target area before recovering. The move back above $76,000, the report noted, does not by itself negate the prior downside objective that was met during the pullback. Brandt has since shifted his stance as the technical picture changed. He said a long-running inverse head-and-shoulders formation altered market structure after a neckline break, prompting him to buy following the breakout. The report emphasized that the earlier downside target during the decline and the later turn bullish are separate calls tied to different phases and signals. Brandt has not recently published a firm upside target, pointing instead to several zones that could act as support or resistance. From Aug. 17 to Aug. 21, Bitcoin climbed from roughly $62,700 to $79,500, a near-27% advance. Even after pulling back to around $76,600, gains over the seven-day window remained above 20%. Early in the rally, forced liquidations of leveraged short positions contributed to the upside as shorts were compelled to buy back, reinforcing momentum. Spot demand has also improved. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted net inflows of about $606 million on Aug. 20 after roughly $517 million the prior day, lifting cumulative net inflows over five consecutive trading days to about $1.92 billion. The report said sustained ETF buying offers more direct support for sentiment than moves driven mainly by derivatives-led short squeezes. Macro conditions also turned more supportive as U.S. Treasury market liquidity measures eased financial conditions. On Aug. 19, the U.S. Treasury said it would at least double the per-transaction cap for liquidity-supportive repurchase operations in longer-dated Treasuries, raising the limit from $2 billion to at least $4 billion starting Sept. 9. The operations cover Treasuries with maturities of 10–20 years and 20–30 years. After the announcement, long-term yields fell, the dollar weakened, and scarce assets such as Bitcoin and gold rose. The next key test is whether Bitcoin can reclaim and hold above $79,500. If it fails to sustain that level, the area below $70,000 could return as a near-term focus.