TLDR
- Bitcoin moved above $81,000 after extending its recovery through Asian trading.
- NEAR jumped about 23% as Zcash swap activity increased through NEAR Intents.
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs ended the week with $6.2 million in net inflows after a $433 million Friday surge.
- Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF accounted for $310.7 million of Friday’s inflows.
- Ether ETFs recorded $140 million in weekly outflows, ending a four-week inflow streak.
Bitcoin climbed above $81,000 on Monday as crypto prices continued recovering and Asian stock markets moved higher.
The cryptocurrency was up less than 1% over 24 hours, extending gains that began after U.S. regulators cleared a path for some onchain trading of tokenized stocks.
Market participants also pointed to short covering as a factor behind Bitcoin’s weekend move.
Bitcoin Holds Above $81,000
Bitcoin traded just above $81,000 during Asian hours as investors reacted to stronger risk sentiment across global markets.
Asian equities rose after U.S. officials described trade discussions with China as productive ahead of a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping.
U.S. stock futures also moved higher, with Nasdaq 100 contracts outperforming S&P 500 futures.
Brent crude fell around 2% to just above $101 per barrel, marking a fourth consecutive decline.
Lower oil prices helped ease some inflation concerns, while Treasury futures also moved higher.
BTSE Chief Operating Officer Jeff Mei said Bitcoin’s weekend increase followed the SEC’s move on tokenized stocks and a short squeeze.
Attention now turns toward speeches from Federal Reserve officials ahead of the central bank’s late-October meeting.
NEAR Surges on Zcash Swap Activity
NEAR was one of the strongest major cryptocurrencies, rising about 23% to trade just above $4.
The move followed rising activity through NEAR Intents, a service that allows users to swap assets across different blockchains without manually transferring funds between networks.
Wallets including ZODL and Vizor have integrated the service to offer Zcash swaps.
Daily Zcash volume routed through NEAR Intents increased roughly sixfold during the past week.
Zcash itself gained about 3% to trade above $1,500.
BNB rose around 2% to nearly $777, while Ether and Hyperliquid also gained about 2%.
XRP, Dogecoin, Solana and Tron recorded smaller gains of around 1% or less.
Bitcoin ETF Flows Recover on Friday
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs finished last week with $6.2 million in net inflows.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs See $6.21 Million in Weekly Net Inflows, While Spot Ethereum ETFs Post $140 Million in Net Outflows
From September 14 to September 18 (ET), spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $6.21 million in net inflows, led by BlackRock’s IBIT with $121 million. Spot Ethereum ETFs… pic.twitter.com/Va0TqUYhFY
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 21, 2026
The weekly total was rescued by $433 million of inflows on Friday, the strongest daily result since September 3.
Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF accounted for $310.7 million of Friday’s total, while BlackRock’s fund added $108.4 million.
Earlier in the week, the products had recorded large withdrawals, including $450.3 million on Tuesday and $296 million on Wednesday.
Bitcoin ETFs remain down about $1.45 billion in net flows this year, while cumulative inflows since launch stand at $55.16 billion.
Ether ETFs moved in the opposite direction.
The products recorded about $140 million in weekly outflows, ending four consecutive weeks of positive flows that had brought in a combined $1.94 billion.
Bitcoin enters the new week above $81,000 as traders monitor ETF demand, Federal Reserve comments and whether strength in NEAR and other altcoins continues.
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