The third quarter of 2026 is coming to an end and it will go down in the crypto history books because bitcoin climbs 43.5%, from around 58,500 to almost 84,000 dollars! Its second best performance in a Q3, just behind the famous +80.4% in 2017. Ethereum did much better with +71% over the same period, an absolute record for a third quarter, which shatters the old ceiling of +66.5% set in 2025. Two assets, two records and you will see, this is not a coincidence of timing.
In brief
- Bitcoin recorded its best Q3 since 2013, with +43.5%, its second best summer quarterly performance in history.
- Ethereum beats its own Q3 record with +71%, driven by sharply increasing ETF and spot demand.
- Bitcoin cashes the September 25 options deadline without trembling and aims for resistance at $96,700, the gateway to six figures.
The mechanics behind the extraordinary Q3 of bitcoin and ethereum
As said in the intro, bitcoin gained 43.5% in Q3 2026, its second best summer performance in history. A figure is good, but understanding why is even better because this increase does not come out of nowhere. The crypto market has recrossed several entry cost thresholds that blocked previous rebound attempts. Especially since certain factors helped a lot. Notably :
- Demand for ETFs has strengthened;
- Volume in the spot market increased;
- Profit taking remained limited;
- No wave of massive sales at each peak.
Basically, there has been calm, almost suspicious for all those who have been following this market for several cycles. Bitcoin was not the only one there because Ethereum also made its own demonstration with +71% over the quarter, unheard of in a Q3. This performance was also driven by increased ETF demand across the entire crypto ecosystem. This Q3 is therefore the second best ever recorded for BTC, and the best quarter in the entire history of ETH. Except that a good quarter does not necessarily make a good cycle.
BTC already aims higher after options expire
September 25, 2026 was a big test for bitcoin with a quarterly options expiry with significant outstanding contracts. This kind of event can shake prices in a few hours… But BTC held up. No sudden fall for the crypto queen and no cascading liquidations either. Except that once this deadline has passed, attention now shifts higher, with the next major on-chain resistance located around $96,700.
Crossing this zone would then put bitcoin within reach of the psychological threshold of $100,000. There are still a few trading days left before the end of the quarter, enough to leave room for BTC and Ethereum to extend an already extraordinary performance. And this is not trivial because historically, the fourth quarter is more favorable to the crypto market than the third. A strong summer doesn’t guarantee anything for fall, but it clearly changes the starting point.
The gold-bitcoin rotation, a strong signal or an optimistic bet?
On X, the Mister Crypto account relaunched a theory that comes back every cycle which is the rotation from gold to Bitcoin. And his argument? Gold’s momentum is slowing down while BTC’s is accelerating, a pattern already observed in 2017 and 2020, just before two marked upward phases for bitcoin. For him, the biggest bullish phase in the history of BTC is starting. Enticing isn’t it? But let’s take two seconds to breathe.
This type of chart always works retrospectively. We draw circles around the historical lows, connect them to the rise that followed, and we get a pattern that seems clear. Except that we never know in advance whether we are in the circle or outside it, and two historical repetitions do not make a law of nature. A correlation between gold and bitcoin, as visually appealing as it may be, has never been demonstrated as a causal mechanism. What is true, however, is that this narrative is circulating at the right time, when BTC is already breaking quarterly records and when the appetite for risk seems to be returning.
What to learn from the explosion of BTC and ETH in Q3 2026?
- Bitcoin recorded its second best Q3 performance in history, with +43.5%, driven by solid ETF demand and limited profit-taking.
- Ethereum beats its own Q3 record with +71%, against a backdrop of strengthened spot and ETF demand.
- The key resistance to watch for BTC is around $96,700, the gateway to the psychological threshold of $100,000.
- The gold-bitcoin rotation theory resurfaces on social networks, but remains an a posteriori graphical reading, not a validated prediction.
Q3 2026 will remain a separate quarter for the crypto market for bitcoin and ethereum. It remains to be seen whether Q4 will confirm the trend, or whether this long-awaited rotation from gold to BTC will be, once again, just another pretty graphic on social networks. What if bitcoin transactions became as confidential as Zcash transactions?
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