Bitcoin is drawing attention for possible additional gains in the fourth quarter after its strongest August performance in 9 years. U.Today reported on Aug. 31 that Bitcoin's 2026 third-quarter return currently stands at 32.48 percent.

Bitcoin posted consecutive quarterly declines of 22.2 percent in the first quarter and 14.09 percent in the second quarter this year, but rebounded in the third quarter. The jump is unusually large given the average third-quarter return of 7.94 percent.

The move is being compared with 2017. Bitcoin rose 80.41 percent in the third quarter that year and climbed 215.07 percent in the fourth quarter. A summer surge in August 2017 later became the starting point for a strong fourth-quarter market, and after a brief pullback in September it gained 325 percent from late-August levels to around $20,000 in mid-December.

Supply and demand also supported the rise. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of $1.92 billion, the largest weekly cumulative inflow since October 2025. A recent decision by the U.S. Treasury to double the size of its long-term bond buybacks was also cited as a key catalyst for the rally.

In August, about $6.55 billion in Bitcoin short positions were liquidated. Fidelity's Jurrien Timmer said Bitcoin held the lower end of its power law curve and had gone through sufficient time-based adjustment during a mild 4-year cycle winter phase. It remains uncertain whether the same pattern as in 2017 will be repeated.

The rise is meaningful in that it went beyond a simple monthly rebound to end the streak of consecutive quarterly declines. The phase is also seen as being marked by simultaneous inflows into spot ETFs, short liquidations and changes in the macro environment.