Bitcoin tops $80,000, solana jumps 8% but rally now runs into overbought warning

Bitcoin rose above $80,000 in Asian morning hours Tuesday, up 4% on the day and over 25% on the week, extending a rally that began with the Treasury's move to expand its bond buybacks.

Positioning is getting stretched, meanwhile. Bitfire Research pointed to a widely watched momentum gauge which compared recent gains against recent losses on a scale of zero to 100, sitting near 78 for bitcoin.

Anything above 70 is usually read as a sign that a price has climbed too far too fast and is due a pause. Bitfire signals selling pressure between $78,500 and $82,000, and buyers likely to step in around $72,400 to $73,500, per a note sent to CoinDesk.

Solana led the majors, up almost 8% to just above $101 and almost 35% over seven days. Ether added over 2% to just under $2,500 and is up almost 32% on the week. BNB rose over 2% to just under $714. XRP gained almost 2% to just above $1.50 and leads all majors on the week at over 52%.

Solana's gains come as validators vote on two proposals that would cut SOL's supply, as CoinDesk reported, one slowing new issuance and one raising daily burns to as much as $800,000. Voting closes Thursday.

Zcash extended its run, up over 1% to $846 and 66% on the week, the strongest weekly performance among the top dozen tokens. Dogecoin edged up to 9 cents for a 32% weekly gain, and tron rose half a percent to just under 35 cents, the only major without a double-digit week at 4%.

Hyperliquid's HYPE was the sole decliner, off marginally at $81, though it holds a 36% weekly gain.

The rally traces to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's plan to step up bond repurchases, which revived talk of the debasement trade, the idea that holding assets outside government control protects against a currency losing value.

Bessent added nothing further on Monday, saying the department will continue its regular programme of sales and signalling no changes before the next quarterly refunding announcement in November.

Morgan Stanley estimated the Treasury has between $80 billion and $200 billion of spare cash it could put toward larger buybacks, according to interest-rate strategist Martin Tobias.

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh speaks at Jackson Hole on Wednesday, his first appearance there since taking the job. Central bankers gather at the Wyoming resort each August, and the chair's speech is where policy shifts have historically been signalled before they arrive, which is why traders treat it as a rate event in itself.