In the long human search for stores of value that outlast the anxieties of any given era, Bitcoin has once again surged toward a symbolic threshold — nearly $80,000 — carried there by a confluence of institutional confidence, macroeconomic unease, and the self-reinforcing mechanics of a short squeeze. The week of August 25, 2026 finds the cryptocurrency extending a 20% three-day advance, its sharpest in years, as ETF inflows reach their highest weekly total since Bitcoin's last peak and Treasury policy shifts rekindle appetite for scarce assets. Whether this moment represents a durable turn or