[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Bitcoin broke above $86,000, pushing spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors back into profit based on their average purchase price.

Bitcoin Magazine reported on Sept. 21 that Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart estimated the average purchase price for spot bitcoin ETF investors at $80,172. As bitcoin traded above that level, ETF investors moved back into profit for the first time since January.

Bitcoin rose as high as $86,837 in intraday trading before changing hands around $86,300. It was above the average purchase price for ETF investors but still more than 30 percent below last year’s record high of $126,080.

The rebound came amid regulatory uncertainty and the burden of higher interest rates. The Clarity Act, a major U.S. congressional cryptocurrency bill, hit a snag last week, and the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Bitcoin stayed strong despite those headwinds.

Flows into spot bitcoin ETFs also improved. Spot bitcoin ETFs run by BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale and Morgan Stanley saw more than $6 million in inflows last week. Investors in particular put about $593 million into the products over two days on Thursday and Friday.

The starting point for bitcoin’s rebound was August. Gains began after the U.S. Treasury said it would at least double the size of its long-term bond buybacks, and bitcoin then posted its strongest weekly performance since 2023. The market then began again to treat bitcoin as a so-called "currency debasement trade."

Bitcoin turned lower after hitting a record high in October last year. Later that month, the cryptocurrency market saw its largest liquidation event on record, with more than $19 billion in positions liquidated. Losses widened after the Fed made clear it would not rush to cut interest rates, and investor money moved into artificial intelligence-related stocks.

The market then returned to bitcoin even as the Fed signalled a shift to a more hawkish stance. The recovery in the average cost mentioned by Seyffart and the ETF inflows illustrate that trend in numbers.

ETFs have served as an alternative investment tool within the stock market for investors who found cold-wallet custody or private key management burdensome. The total assets under management (AUM) of spot bitcoin ETFs run by major Wall Street asset managers stand at $98.8 billion, according to CoinGlass. The next focus is whether bitcoin prices will further spur ETF inflows, or whether interest rates and legislative uncertainty will again constrain buying.

NEW: The average Bitcoin ETF Holder is back above water for the first time since January. The rally this morning has bitcoin:native above our estimated ETF cost basis of $81,722 per coin. h/t @EricBalchunas pic.twitter.com/h21zuvTxj6