Bitcoin back near 78K after the August dip
The crypto market looks notably stronger as of September 8 than a month ago. Bitcoin trades near 78400 dollars, ether near 2484 dollars. Both recovered from the August drop and now sit roughly 20-30% above their mid-August lows. According to CoinGecko, bitcoin gained about 20.3% over the past 30 days, ether about 29.2%, with 1.5% and 2.7% over the past week respectively.What happened
The key point is the speed of the reversal. On August 14 bitcoin closed near 62830 dollars, ether near 1878 dollars, while the fear and greed index sat in fear at 27-31. Then from August 19 to 21 the market jumped: bitcoin from 64596 to 78447 dollars, ether from 1912 to 2521 dollars. Since then prices hold sideways near those levels with a couple of pushes toward 80000-81100.- Bitcoin - 78444 dollars on September 8, daily range 77666-79432, down 1.1% on the day;
- Ether - 2484 dollars, range 2443-2505, down 0.4% on the day;
- Cycle lows of August 9-14: bitcoin around 62575-62830, ether around 1861-1878;
- Recent highs: bitcoin 81731 dollars, ether 2535 dollars.
Fig. 1. Bitcoin daily closes August 9 to September 8 2026 in dollars. CoinGecko data.
From fear to greed in three days
The second key signal is the sentiment flip. According to alternative.me, the fear and greed index stood at 46 in fear on August 19, then rose to 62 in greed on August 20 and never left greed since. On September 8 it reads 69, also greed. It seems to me this captures the move well: first the panic levels of mid-August, then a fast return of buyers.Greed is not extreme yet, with recent peaks at 73-74. The market runs hot but not at historic overheated extremes.
- August 9-18 - index at 27-46, fear;
- August 20 - 62, flip into greed;
- August 21 to September 8 - 62-74, steady greed;
- September 8 - 69, greed.
Fig. 2. Crypto fear and greed index August 9 to September 8 2026. alternative.me data.
Ether outperforms while bitcoin dominance holds
Interestingly, ether outgained bitcoin over the month, 29.2% versus 20.3%. Still, bitcoin keeps dominance near 58.3% of market cap, per CoinGecko. Total crypto market cap stands near 2.69 trillion dollars, down 2.2% on the day amid the mild pullback.Both remain far from the October 2025 peak: the all-time high for bitcoin is 126080 dollars, current price about 37.8% below it. For ether the gap is wider, about 49.8% below its 4946 dollar high. So this is a rebound inside a deep downtrend from the autumn peaks, not a fresh record run.
- Bitcoin share - 58.3% of the market, ether - 11.2%;
- Bitcoin market cap - about 1.575 trillion dollars;
- Gap to ATH: bitcoin minus 37.8%, ether minus 49.8%;
- Bitcoin daily trading volume - about 35.2 billion dollars.
Why it matters
For short-term traders the main question is whether the 77000-80000 zone for bitcoin holds. The 1.1% daily dip so far looks like a routine breather after the rally, not a trend break. But the August 19-21 surge was very sharp with almost no pauses, and such moves often need consolidation.
ℹ INFO
The August reversal flipped the market from fear to greed, but record highs remain far away. Next it comes down to whether the 77000-80000 zone holds.
