Bitcoin traded at $76,536.00 on Sunday, down 0.8% in 24 hours, after giving up earlier gains that took it to $77,468.00, as investors assessed improved profitability of mining operations and Grayscale’s argument that the bear market may be in its final stages.
Bitcoin had reached $79,461.00 on Friday before retreating, continuing a decline that began after a sharp rise driven by falling US Treasury yields, strong physical demand, and forced short-selling. As of 8:57 AM, Bitcoin was trading down 0.60% at $76,586.20.
The price recovery has brought some relief to miners. Bitcoin.com reported that Bitcoin's hash rate, a measure of the expected return per unit of computing power, rose 20.4% over four days to $38.29 per petahash per second on Saturday, compared to $31.80 on August 18.
The network's computing power reached approximately 922 exahashes per second, approaching the one zettahash threshold. Foundry USA remained the largest mining pool, followed by Antpool and then F2Pool.
Miners had earned $682.69 million in block rewards and transaction fees in August as of Saturday. Only $5.14 million came from fees, highlighting the operators' heavy reliance on block rewards and the price of Bitcoin.
Zach Bandel, head of research at Grayscale, said three factors could support buyers in the long term: increased reliance on the currency, the maturation of the current bear market, and broadly supportive macroeconomic forecasts.
The bear market had lasted for about 10 months, approaching the average and average duration of Bitcoin's four previous contraction cycles of 11 to 12 months.
Grayscale linked long-term adoption to rising government debt, the expanding use of blockchain technology in financial services, and generational shifts in portfolio composition. US public debt stood at approximately $40.03 trillion as of August 20.
Interest rates remain the primary risk factor. The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate at 3.5% to 3.75% in July, although three officials had favored a rate hike. Any future increase in interest rates could put pressure on non-yielding assets like Bitcoin.
Separately, a study revealed a statistical correlation between rising European carbon prices and increased emissions from the Russian energy sector related to Bitcoin mining. Researchers suggested this might reflect operators switching equipment between jurisdictions rather than physically moving the equipment.
This strategy may be constrained by the Russian regional mining ban in place since 2025.
Cryptocurrency prices today: Altcoins are relatively stable on Sunday
Prices for the broader cryptocurrency market were relatively stable on Sunday, with only minor gains and losses.
Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, fell 0.09% to trade at $2,411.01.
XRP, the world's third-largest cryptocurrency, fell 0.36% to trade at $1.4793.
Solana rose 0.57%, while BNB fell 0.21% to trade at $689.48.
In contrast, Cardano fell 0.99% to trade at $0.2206.
In the meme currency market, Dogecoin rose by 1.73%, while TRUMP jumped by 88.12%.
