Bitcoin traded near $79,771 on Aug. 28 after failing again to clear $82,000 resistance, and veteran trader Peter Brandt says he remains long. The stall also matters for Strategy Inc., whose mNAV premium has compressed to near breakeven, leaving BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes to argue the company's bitcoin-buying model is running out of room.
Bitcoin traded at approximately $79,771, up about 1.2% on the session. It reached an intraday high near $81,280 before retreating, and the $80,000–$82,000 band remains unresolved. Friday's session low sat near $78,828.
Brandt stays long after the breakout
Peter Brandt disclosed a long Bitcoin position in an X post that also listed long trades in wheat, soybeans, corn, soybean meal, sugar and the Mexican peso, plus a short position in lean hogs. He did not disclose his entry price, position size, leverage or exit level, and he warned his positions could change within one trading day.
The trader bought Bitcoin after an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern completed on Aug. 20, abandoning an earlier view that had assigned roughly 60% odds to another decline. Bitcoin had fallen to about $57,717 on July 1 before recovering toward $79,500 by Aug. 21, and it has gained approximately 28% during August, putting the month on course for its strongest advance since November 2024.
ETF inflows and Treasury buybacks supported the rally
Institutional demand backed the August move. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted approximately $1.92 billion across five sessions in the week ending Aug. 21, with BlackRock's IBIT taking the largest share. The advance also followed larger Treasury buyback operations for older long-dated bonds, alongside a weaker dollar and lower long-term yields.
Strategy's premium has nearly vanished
Bitcoin's sideways grind carries a separate cost for Strategy Inc. (Nasdaq: MSTR). According to Bitcoin.com News, Arthur Hayes said the stock's enterprise mNAV has compressed to roughly 1.01x, with its basic and diluted measures near 0.73x and 0.74x as of Aug. 27 — a premium that once let the company issue shares to buy more bitcoin. Hayes said Strategy holds 840,447 BTC while owing about $1.5 billion a year in dividends on its STRK and STRC preferred shares.
Hayes argues Michael Saylor now faces three costly options: issue new shares at a diluted premium, sell bitcoin outright, or trim preferred dividends. He says bitcoin does not need to fall for the model to break — it only has to stop accelerating, which weakens the case for paying a premium over a spot ETF.
What confirms the next move
A daily close above $82,000 would strengthen the breakout structure Brandt cited when he opened his position. Failure to hold the range could turn attention back to Friday's low near $78,828, though the exact level that would invalidate his trade is unclear since Brandt has not published a stop.
Sources: crypto.news, Bitcoin.com News
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