Bitcoin and ethereum prices rose sharply on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, reaching levels not seen since earlier in the year. Bitcoin opened at $86,597.82, a 6.7% increase from Monday's opening price, while ethereum opened at $2,775.96, up 5% from its previous open.
As of 7:20 a.m. ET, the price of bitcoin had slipped to $86,035.18, and ethereum traded at $2,734.44. Despite the intraday slide, both assets recorded gains of over 10% in the preceding week and month. Bitcoin's current price is 10.8% higher than one week ago and 10.6% higher than one month ago, though it remains 24.9% below its level from a year prior. Ethereum is up 10.4% over both the one-week and one-month periods.
A Coinpedia article dated September 21 attributes a major part of the rally to a wave of short liquidations. Over the past 24 hours prior to that report, 115,490 traders were liquidated with total losses reaching $769.80 million. Short positions accounted for 85% of these losses, totaling approximately $647 million. Bitcoin led the liquidations with $421.5 million, followed by ethereum with $180.31 million. In the latest hour recorded by Coinpedia, liquidations hit $634.62 million, with about 84% stemming from short positions.
Falling oil prices are cited as another contributing factor to the crypto market's movement. As of 7:40 a.m. ET on Tuesday, oil prices stood at $98.49, down from recent levels above $100 a barrel.
Bitcoin's all-time high remains $128,198.07, set on October 6, 2025. Ethereum's all-time high is $4,953.73, reached on August 24, 2025.