LIVE: Bitcoin abruptly hits $80,000

U.S. stocks recovered some ground Friday, though it was not enough to wipe out the damage from earlier in the week. The S&P 500 finished 0.43% higher at 7,674.37, and the Nasdaq Composite also added 0.43%, closing at 26,180.45. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 517.80 points, or 0.98%.

Bond markets were still a problem for equities. Treasury yields moved higher again, even after the government tried to ease the pressure in Treasurys. The longer end of the bond market has been especially weak because investors are watching the inflation risk that could come with more expensive oil.

Friday’s rebound did not save the week. The S&P 500 ended the week down 1.4%, while the Nasdaq lost 2%, snapping three straight weekly gains for both indexes. The Dow shed 0.9%, marking its second losing week in a row.

The selling also reached markets outside the U.S. The MSCI All Country World Index finished the week almost 1% lower.

Verdence Capital Advisors founder and CEO Leo Kelly sees a chance that stocks could fall further later this year. Leo said a move toward correction territory in the fall becomes more likely if Treasury yields keep rising and tensions in the Middle East remain unresolved.

The bond market was still moving against stocks Friday. The 10-year Treasury yield rose by more than 3 basis points to 4.734%, while the 30-year yield increased by more than 3 basis points to 5.273%.

Tech has been one of the weaker corners of the market this week. The S&P 500 information technology sector is down more than 3% since Monday, helping pull the broader index into negative territory for the week ending Aug. 21.

Some tech names have fallen much harder than the sector itself. Amkor Technology (NASDAQ: AMKR) is down nearly 15% this week, Credo Technology (NASDAQ: CRDO) has lost around 11%, and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has dropped almost 7%.

Crypto-related stocks were mostly higher, with some of the biggest moves coming from names tied directly to Bitcoin and retail trading. Canaan (NASDAQ: CAN) was out in front, jumping 27.24% to $0.35. Intchains Group (NASDAQ: ICG) climbed 19.53% to $1.01, while Metaplanet (OTC: MTPLF) rose 16.51% to $2.00.

Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) had a big session too, up 13.70% at $108.13. Strive (NASDAQ: ASST) gained 12.96% to $18.22, and Prenetics (NASDAQ: PRE) was up 12.41% at $20.20. Sol Strategies (NASDAQ: STKE) added 9.92% to $1.33, while Bitdeer Technologies Group (NASDAQ: BTDR) climbed 9.01% to $11.37.

The strength carried into several other crypto names. Figure Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: FIGR) rose 8.43% to $39.10, Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) gained 8.20% to $186.49, and Rumble (NASDAQ: RUM) moved 7.35% higher to $9.05. Bullish (NYSE: BLSH) added 6.93% to $30.41, while Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) climbed 6.10% to $119.25.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) rose 5.84% to $22.83, Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) gained 5.16% to $87.98, and Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI) was up 4.85% at $6.49. SharpLink (NASDAQ: SBET) advanced 4.22% to $7.91, Nano Labs (NASDAQ: NA) gained 4.17% to $2.00, and Meliuz (B3: CASH3) rose 3.70% to $5.60.

BitGo Holdings (NYSE: BTGO) added 3.64% to $6.84, while Gemini Space Station (NASDAQ: GEMI) was up 3.38% at $4.28. Block (NYSE: XYZ) gained 2.60% to $82.16, Forward Industries (NASDAQ: FWDI) rose 2.39% to $5.14, and Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ: ARBK) added 2.01% to $3.04.

Smaller gains showed up elsewhere. Bitcoin Group SE (ETR: ADE) rose 1.61% to $27.84, Nexon (OTC: NEXOY) gained 1.57% to $19.44, and Neptune Digital Assets (TSXV: NDA) added 1.54% to $0.66. MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) was up 0.99% at $11.26, GameStop (NYSE: GME) gained 0.94% to $18.21, and Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP) rose 0.88% to $26.30.

Galaxy Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: GLXY) moved 0.72% higher to $23.64, Net Holding (NASDAQ: NTHOL) gained 0.23% to $44.30, and MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) was barely changed, up 0.04% at $1,922.73. Boyaa International (OTC: BOYAF) stayed flat at $0.25.

Not everything followed Bitcoin higher. PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) slipped 1.20% to $61.55, while Keel Infrastructure (NASDAQ: KEEL) lost 1.48% to $3.32. IREN (NASDAQ: IREN) fell 1.69% to $41.88, and Kulr Technology Group (NYSE: KULR) dropped 2.29% to $2.56.

The declines got steeper among some miners and digital-asset companies. Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ) fell 3.15% to $17.81, HIVE Digital Technologies (NASDAQ: HIVE) lost 3.19% to $3.03, and Exodus Movement (NYSE: EXOD) dropped 3.97% to $7.50. ProCap Financial (NASDAQ: BRR) was down 4.02% at $2.15, while Bit Digital (NASDAQ: BTBT) fell 4.08% to $1.53.

Securitize (NASDAQ: SECZ) lost 4.22% to $6.13. TeraWulf (NASDAQ: WULF) and CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) both fell 4.92%, ending at $15.64 and $11.98, respectively. Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) dropped 5.48% to $19.83, while American Bitcoin (NASDAQ: ABTC) lost 6.38% to $7.93.

The biggest decliners in the group were Cipher Digital (NASDAQ: CIFR), down 8.40% at $15.77, and Hut 8 (NASDAQ: HUT), which fell 8.79% to $80.86.

There was no clear direction across European equities at Friday’s open. The Stoxx 600 sat a touch in positive territory, and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.14%. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40, meanwhile, dipped a little.

Overnight trading in Asia was split too. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.30% lower at 66,016.36. South Korea’s Kospi finished 0.88% higher at 6,912.95, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.27% and closed at 9,058.90.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was ahead 1.06% with about an hour left in the session. Mainland China’s CSI 300 finished 0.57% higher at 4,618.895.

The setup for Wall Street was quiet. Dow futures were up 25 points, while contracts tied to both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 were ahead 0.1%.

The S&P 500 is sitting a little under 2% below the record closing level it reached on Aug. 13. Fundstrat Global Advisors founder Tom Lee thinks the index can erase that distance before August ends.

Tom wrote Friday that he sees the benchmark reaching 7,900 to 8,000 by month-end. Its Aug. 13 record close was 7,798.99.

Tom’s case rests on a few things happening at once. The Federal Reserve does not have a policy meeting this month, July’s employment numbers came in softer than expected, and inflation eased during the same month. He thinks that combination could reduce expectations for another interest-rate increase in the near term.

He also cited strong second-quarter corporate results, a more encouraging setup for 2027 earnings estimates, and his view that the market is nearing the end of the recent AI-related reduction in leveraged positions.

Bitcoin has now cleared $80,000, taking its gain over the past four days to 30%. Since Monday, the wider crypto market has added roughly $450 billion in value.

Even after the recent rally, bitcoin is still well below its 2026 peak of $94,820, reached in mid-January, and its all-time high of $126,198, set on October 6 last year.

Gold was moving higher too early Friday. Gold futures rose 1.67% to $4,647.70, while spot gold gained 1.55% to $4,588.08. That puts the metal up 4.7% for the week, with futures now getting close to their highest level in three months.

It has been a very different story from earlier in the year. Gold had climbed to almost $5,600 before falling back hard, and the three months through June ended up being its worst quarter since 2013.

Over in bonds, longer-term U.S. Treasury yields barely moved Friday as traders continued to watch the Treasury Department’s extended debt buyback program. The 30-year Treasury yield was unchanged at 5.2371%. That maturity is the main focus of the government’s repurchase plan.

The 10-year Treasury yield was also basically flat at 4.6882%. That rate matters across borrowing costs, including mortgages, car loans and credit cards. The 2-year yield, which tends to react more closely to expectations around Federal Reserve policy, was unchanged at 4.1828%.

Oil was going the other way. At 4:50 a.m. ET Friday, Brent crude futures were down 0.8%, while West Texas Intermediate futures for October delivery slipped 0.89%.

Brent is still heading for a monthly gain of almost 6%, though. That comes after it rose 5.95% last week. The international oil benchmark finished Thursday above $93 a barrel, marking its first close above that level since July 24.

Bitcoin is back above $75,000, putting it at its highest level since April. It has now gained 20% in four days. The latest push came as U.S. President Donald Trump told Congress to pass legislation that could give the crypto industry a boost.

Trump also raised the idea of regulating Hyperliquid, the decentralized exchange that has become a popular place for perpetual futures trading. Hyperliquid’s HYPE token is up about 25% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

Another thing helping Bitcoin: Treasury yields came down. Trading in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) was already more than 4.5 times its 30-day average before the Hyperliquid news came out. Bitcoin is getting more volatile too. Volmex Labs’ BVIV Index moved above 40 after dropping to a year-to-date low of 35.5 on Friday.

Nonetheless, that rally does not take away from what occurred during the year at the start. There has not been much change in that bitcoin is still down 18% in the year 2026. It is also 43% off the all-time high price achieved in October. It brings attention once again to the Clarity Act, which would provide clarity on under what circumstances crypto is considered a security or commodity.

People in crypto say they need a law because regulations can change when politics change and get dragged through the courts. Getting the bill passed will not be simple. Many Democrats and some Republicans say they will not support it without tougher language stopping political officials, including Trump, from making money from their own crypto businesses. Trump disclosed more than $1.4 billion in earnings from his family’s crypto ventures in 2025.

Bitcoin was not the only thing moving. Ether rose 2.46% to $2,272, its highest price in more than three months. Coinbase Global (NASDAQ: COIN) gained 6.05%, while Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) was up 4%.

Other crypto-linked names were green. Bitcoin mining machine maker Canaan (NASDAQ: CAN) jumped 10.37%, stablecoin issuer Circle (NYSE: CRCL) rose 3.8%, and retail trading platform Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) added 0.42%.