Bitcoin Tests $80K & Solana Reclaims $100 as Sentiment Flips to 'Extreme Greed'
A week of forced short-covering, regulatory optimism, and heavy ETF buying pushed Bitcoin to its best week since March 2023 and dragged Solana back above $100 — flipping the Fear & Greed Index from neutral to extreme greed.
Crypto just had its best week in years — and the fear gauge knows it.
Bitcoin ripped from roughly $63,000 to nearly $80,000 over the past week, a ~25% move that marks its strongest weekly performance since March 2023. Solana rode the same wave, climbing 27% over seven days to reclaim the $100 level and trade above $102.
What lit the fuse
Several forces stacked on top of each other. Optimism around Trump-backed CLARITY Act market-structure legislation gave traders a regulatory tailwind, while Federal Reserve Treasury bond buyback operations added liquidity to risk assets more broadly. The move was amplified by roughly $5.2 billion in forced short liquidations, as leveraged bears got squeezed out on the way up.
ETF flows confirm the move isn't just derivatives-driven
Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $1.92 billion in net inflows over the week, and spot Solana ETFs logged their best week in 14 weeks — a sign real capital, not just leverage unwinding, is behind the rally.
Altcoins caught the rotation
Capital rotated hard into altcoins alongside the majors. HYPE printed a fresh all-time high at $83.27, and Zcash gained roughly 60% on the week, underscoring how broad-based the risk-on move became once Bitcoin and Solana led.
Sentiment flipped fast
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index jumped from a neutral 40 to 81 — squarely in "extreme greed" territory — in the space of a week. That kind of sentiment swing often runs ahead of price and can set up sharper pullbacks if momentum stalls, particularly with Fed commentary from the Jackson Hole symposium on deck to test whether the rally has real macro backing.
Signal take: ETF inflows and short-covering both pointing the same direction is a stronger setup than either alone, but an 81 reading on the Fear & Greed Index is also historically where rallies get vulnerable to profit-taking. Jackson Hole is the next real catalyst — a dovish read keeps this move intact, a hawkish surprise gives leveraged longs the same treatment shorts just got.