Bitcoin price climbed to $81,050 on Friday, returning to the level it last touched on May 14, according to latest market data. The cryptocurrency has now moved above $81,000 on shifting rate-hike expectations, with the latest reading showing bitcoin is outperforming gold in this environment. However, recent buyers face significantly different conditions than in May, as short-term holder cost basis has dropped by approximately $7,500 from the May 14 levels. The striking point for market participants is that bitcoin is advancing faster than the metal in this period of fiscal-debasement fears, reinforcing the view among digital-asset advocates that BTC is increasingly being treated as a modern hard asset rather than simply a high-beta technology trade.
Bitcoin processed 893,391 daily transactions on September 6, marking its fourth-highest total in history and exceeding 99% of all daily readings recorded by the network, according to Galaxy Research. The transaction count represents a 23.4% increase from the previous day and 102.6% growth compared to the same day a year earlier. As per YCharts data, this milestone extends a recovery that began in 2026, with June 2026 averaging 651,655 transactions per day, up 90% from June 2025's 342,866 average. The surge is primarily driven by small transfers below 0.01 BTC, which accounted for about 80% of Bitcoin transactions in 2026, nearly doubling their share from 44% in 2023. However, Blockchain.com data shows approximately 415,000 active addresses, down 10.7% from the previous period, indicating that transaction totals and address activity can move in opposite directions.
Glassnode data reveals that the average entry price for coins younger than 155 days has dropped sharply, with the Short-Term Holder MVRV reading closing at 1.1415 on September 3 against 1.0298 on May 14. Both dates share nearly the same price, with May 14 closing at $81,059.69 and September 3 at $81,261.98, a difference of just 0.25%. However, the implied cost basis tells a different story, standing near $71,188 today compared to $78,713 in May, representing a reset of roughly $7,500. This changes the margin for error significantly - in May, a 2.9% dip would have pushed the whole cohort back underwater, while today the same cohort holds a 12.4% buffer, more than four times wider. The Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) printed 1.0082 on September 3, with coins moving on-chain changing hands at less than 1% average profit, compared to hotter readings of 1.086 in November 2024 and 1.179 in July 2025.
The Miners' Position Index (MPI) sits near neutral at -0.036, showing miners are neither aggressively distributing nor accumulating through exchange transfers. This is much lower than the high of 2.0, which is typically seen during large-scale transfers. Notably, the metric briefly surged toward 2.8 in August before quickly retracing to 1, suggesting that the distribution spike failed to develop into sustained pressure. Since then, the indicator has fluctuated around zero, indicating that miners are showing little urgency to sell into the recovery. This leaves demand increasingly important for Bitcoin's next move, as persistent neutral MPI would support stabilization, while another sustained move above 2.0 could introduce fresh supply and weaken recovery attempts.
Bitcoin's broader market relationship is shifting toward a more defensive profile, with its 90-day gold correlation climbing toward +0.50, more than doubling from early-2026 levels and approaching its 2020 peak. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq correlation has fallen toward +0.30, suggesting Bitcoin is moving less closely with technology-driven risk appetite. The divergence between the Nasdaq price correlation and gold price correlation has expanded, with Treasury long-dated buybacks renewing concerns around liquidity and currency debasement. As such, investors are beginning to treat Bitcoin similarly to gold as a monetary hedge, though correlation alone cannot establish lasting demand - further validation will need to come from spot market participation. Holding near +0.50 alongside improving spot flows would reinforce the hedge narrative, while renewed Nasdaq alignment could restore risk-asset sensitivity.
