LIVE: Bitcoin ETFs had their best week in nearly a year as crypto rally holds firm

Bitcoin kept running on Monday and came within touching distance of $80,000, adding another 2% as traders moved back into crypto.

That put the coin at prices last seen in May. Ether was moving too, also up about 2%, with the token sitting near $2,500, its strongest showing since January.

Crypto-linked shares moved with them. Strategy added roughly 2%, while Strive climbed around 4%. Companies built around Ether holdings were higher as well, with Bitmine up about 3% and Sharplink ahead by roughly 2%.

Bitcoin had spent months going nowhere after falling into a long downturn that started in October, so this latest move has traders asking whether that stretch is finally breaking.

The timing is getting extra attention because Bitcoin is also heading into a part of the year that has historically been stronger for the asset.

At the same time, Washington is getting ready to turn up the economic pressure on Iran again. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a huge new financial strike against Tehran would begin Monday.

Scott described what is coming as the biggest economic attack the US has ever launched against the country.

Iran, meanwhile, has warned that it could take control of ships that ignore its movement rules inside the Strait of Hormuz.

The timing matters because the US and Iran have now gone beyond the 60-day ceasefire period without reaching an agreement.

That means the formal process meant to keep the truce alive and bring the Middle East war, now in its sixth month, toward an end has effectively run out.

Scott laid out the message in an X post on Sunday evening in the US, saying the next phase would begin at sunrise and comparing it to an economic D-Day. He also presented the coming action as the final stage of Washington’s financial campaign against Tehran.

Whatever comes next will sit on top of restrictions the US already has in place across Iranian banking, energy, aviation and crypto activity.

The Trump administration has said Iran’s economy is falling apart, pointing to very high inflation and a currency that has continued losing value.

There are still few public details on exactly what the new penalties will look like. But the pressure is already showing in the currency market.

The Iranian rial fell to another record low on the open market Sunday, with one US dollar moving above 2 million rials, based on figures reported by Gulf News.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs just had their strongest week in 10 months. The 13 U.S.-listed funds brought in a net $1.92 billion last week, their biggest weekly inflow since early October 2025. That came as Bitcoin jumped about 23%, its strongest weekly gain in more than three years, and was trading around $78,000 at press time.

The rally first got a lift from U.S. plans to increase buybacks of long-dated government bonds, a move aimed at bringing yields down.

These were the biggest weekly ETF inflows since Bitcoin fell from its record above $126,000 on Oct. 6 and slipped into what became a crypto winter. Just one week before this latest surge, the spot funds had actually lost nearly $390 million, their biggest net outflow in six weeks.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust was able to generate $1.3 billion by itself, suggesting it has been the biggest contributor of new assets. With all the success it experienced, the ETFs are still lagging by roughly $2.9 billion for the year.

Price-wise, the $79,500-$80,000 range is the first obstacle Bitcoin should clear. Sellers had controlled this zone earlier; therefore, a daily close above $80,000 would solidify the breakout pattern. If, however, Bitcoin turns around once again, sideways action could follow.

Outside crypto, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 18 points, or 0.03%. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures were off 0.3%.

US stocks finished last week a bit under pressure, with the Dow losing 0.8% (its second straight weekly decline), the S&P 500 falling 1.4%, while the Nasdaq dropped 2%, ending three consecutive weeks of gains for both indexes.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.74%, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 3.12%, while China’s CSI 300 fell 1.21%. However, on the opposite side was the S&P/ASX 200 from Australia, which posted a gain of 0.49%.

Bond markets remain a major drag on stocks. The 30-year US Treasury yield moved above 5.3% last week, reaching a level not seen in almost two decades. Government borrowing costs in Japan, France and Germany also climbed to highs not seen in several years.