Is the bull case for bitcoin actually a pullback?

Bitcoin neared $80,000 then slipped back — and analysts say the pullback is the real test. Solana validators are voting on a burn that could remove $800K of SOL daily. And ether's golden cross says the ETH/BTC run may not be done. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Monday, August 24, 2026 Bitcoin nears $80,000, but analysts say the next pullback will be key Bitcoin came close to $80,000 before slipping back toward $79,000, and analysts broadly agree on what they want to see next: a pause. Chris Sullivan of Hyperion Decimus, Ryan Lee of Bitget Research, and Joel Kruger of LMAX Group all see the recent move as a sign that bitcoin's outlook has improved — but none expects prices to simply climb higher from here. Lee sees a drop toward $75,000–$76,000 as normal after a rally this fast; Sullivan is watching a lower floor of $67,000–$70,000 if the pullback becomes deeper; Kruger thinks some consolidation would be healthy before $83,000 becomes the next major target. The underlying concern is that last week's $3 billion short squeeze did much of the heavy lifting, and sustained spot buying needs to follow for the move to hold. For now, $80,000 remains the immediate hurdle. Read live updates → CoinDesk · Reader Survey What best describes your role?  Individual investor  Institutional investor or asset manager  Developer or builder  Financial advisor or wealth manager Tech New Solana vote could ramp daily SOL burns to $800,000 and slow new token creation Solana validators are voting through Thursday on three proposals, two of which would meaningfully shrink SOL's circulating supply. SGP-0002 doubles the pace of inflation reduction from 15% to 30% annually. SGP-0003 splits transaction fees — a fixed portion to block producers, a compute-scaled portion permanently burned — lifting daily burns from roughly 650 SOL to between 7,500 and 9,000 SOL, worth up to $800,000 at current prices. A third proposal, SGP-0001, would ratify the Solana Constitution and formally establish the very voting system being used to decide all three — meaning the governance rules are being ratified after the votes they govern are already underway. SOL is up 28% on the week above $96. Read more → Markets Ether is crushing bitcoin, and the 'golden cross' says it may not be done yet The ETH/BTC ratio has rallied 25% since its June 6 low and just printed a golden cross — the 50-day moving average crossing above the 200-day — a pattern technicians read as a potential signal that the outperformance has room to run. The signal has a mixed record on this specific pair: a July 2025 golden cross delivered a 36% gain before reversing hard, while the February 2021 cross preceded a 93% rally. The May and August 2022 crosses were bull traps that failed almost immediately. As a thermometer rather than a forecast, the golden cross tells you the temperature of the current trend — it doesn't guarantee tomorrow's weather. Read more → Know someone who should be reading this? Share this newsletter See all of CoinDesk’s newsletters    CoinDesk, Inc., 61 9th Avenue, 5th Floor, New York,NY,10011,USA, Unsubscribe Manage Preferences   Copyright © 2026 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.