CryptoQuant: Bitcoin begins early bull market stage, with critical $83K threshold ahead
A 24% price surge has elevated CryptoQuant's Bull Score from 30 to 80, indicating the start of a bull market, with $83,000 serving as the crucial validation threshold.
A new bull market appears to be taking shape for Bitcoin following a 24% price surge that has driven crucial onchain metrics and demand signals into positive territory, CryptoQuant has reported.
Over the course of the previous week, the analytics platform's Bull Score surged to 80 from 30, reaching its most elevated reading since October 2025 as eight out of the index's 10 component indicators now signal bullish conditions.
During the recent rally, Bitcoin (BTC) pushed past the $80,000 mark, though CryptoQuant emphasized that a weekly closing price above its 365-day moving average, presently positioned near $83,000, is required to validate the transition into a new bull market phase.
The upward momentum has been bolstered by increasing spot market demand, with spot and futures demand expanding in tandem for the first time since the beginning of October 2025, according to CryptoQuant's analysis.
Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, also highlighted the May 2026 peak of $82,820 as the subsequent critical threshold for Bitcoin to overcome.
A clear break above that level would reinforce the view that a meaningful cycle low is now in place and shift attention towards the next major move through $100,000 and, ultimately, the 2025 record high.
Joel Kruger, LMAX Group market strategist
As of the time of publication, Bitcoin was changing hands around $79,000, based on CoinGecko data.
Large holders lock in gains as Bitcoin price accelerates upward
Notwithstanding the positive indicators, CryptoQuant cautioned that the price rally could be experiencing overheated conditions in the near term, citing elevated trader profitability, substantial profit-taking activity by large holders and an increase in Bitcoin transfers to exchanges.
Unrealized profit margins among traders have increased to 20.5%, marking their highest point since June 2025. CryptoQuant observed that Bitcoin experienced approximately a 30% decline after this metric hit 19% in early May, when BTC was changing hands near $82,000.
Between Aug. 20 and Aug. 22, short-term holder whales locked in approximately $1.2 billion in realized profits, with a record $614 million realized on Aug. 20 alone, as Bitcoin was trading in the $78,000 to $79,000 range, the report indicated.
Exchange inflows of Bitcoin also surged to approximately 53,000 BTC, marking their highest level since June, indicating that a greater volume of coins are being transferred to trading platforms where they are potentially available for sale.