'Bought at $700–$900, won't sell until 2030': Bitcoin reclaims $80,000

"I won't sell my bitcoin until 2030."

Guillaume Patry, a former professional gamer turned broadcaster known as an early bitcoin investor, recently reaffirmed his intention to hold for the long term. Appearing on a broadcast, Patry pushed back against rumors that he is worth "tens of billions of won," but acknowledged, "I have enough to live comfortably if I retired today."

Patry is believed to have begun investing in bitcoin around 2017, when the price was between $700 and $900 per coin. He has long maintained on air that "long-term investment is the right answer," stating a principle of holding for at least 10 years. He recently reiterated that he has no plans to sell his bitcoin holdings before 2030, and that he views price dips as opportunities to buy more.

Patry is not the only well-known investor returning to the market. Strategy, the world's largest corporate bitcoin holder, broke a 10-week buying pause and spent $369.7 million to acquire 4,603 bitcoin. The average purchase price for the latest tranche was $80,318 per coin.

The purchase brings Strategy's total bitcoin holdings to 845,050 coins. Its cumulative acquisition cost stands at approximately $63.73 billion, with an overall average purchase price of $75,412 per coin. With bitcoin recently recovering above $80,000, the current price has once again climbed above Strategy's average cost basis.

As bitcoin "holding and buying" strategies regained attention, the price itself broke back above $80,000.

According to major international media, bitcoin surged more than 5% on Thursday to top $81,000. During intraday trading, it climbed as high as $82,164 — its highest level in roughly four months since May — before pulling back to around $80,800, though it held above the $80,000 mark. The rebound was particularly sharp given that the price had briefly fallen below $77,000 on Wednesday, representing a recovery of more than $5,000 in a single day.

Bitcoin set an all-time high above $126,000 in October last year before entering a prolonged correction. It slid into the $60,000 range in the first half of this year but rebounded 25% in August alone. With three consecutive weeks of gains, the year-to-date decline has narrowed to about 7%, though the price remains roughly 35% below its record high.

The easing of tensions over US monetary policy was a key driver of the latest rally. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he could support holding interest rates steady at this month's Federal Open Market Committee meeting if inflation continues to slow.

After Waller's remarks, market-implied odds of a rate hold rose from about 40% the previous day to roughly 50%. The yield on the 10-year US government bond, which had climbed to 4.818% on Wednesday, pulled back to 4.74%. The combination of falling yields and a weaker dollar drove capital into risk assets such as bitcoin and technology stocks.

Institutional investor demand also showed signs of revival. US spot bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $101.15 million on Wednesday, reversing net outflows of $236.5 million the previous trading day. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) alone attracted $115.46 million in inflows.

Bitcoin's rise lifted shares of related companies. On US markets, online investment platform Robinhood jumped 17%, while Coinbase, the largest US virtual asset exchange, surged 10%. Strategy also posted a double-digit percentage gain.

Some market observers are calling the end of the "crypto winter" — the prolonged bear market in virtual assets. Noelle Acheson, author of "Crypto Is Macro Now," said recent bitcoin price movements suggest the crypto winter is drawing to a close.

David Grider, head of liquid investments at Finality Capital, said that if bond yields drop sharply following a rate hold or the first rate increase, bitcoin and equities could rally together after the FOMC meeting. He added that the trend could extend through late September or early October.

Gautam Chhugani, an analyst at Wall Street investment bank Bernstein, said demand for "hard assets" such as bitcoin would remain intact as long as the US Treasury continues policies aimed at suppressing rising bond yields. He set a year-end price target of $150,000 for bitcoin.

Cautious voices, however, warn it is too early to declare a full bull market. Nikolai Sondergaard, a senior researcher at Nansen, said bitcoin may have formed a meaningful short-term bottom, but a broader market cycle reversal has not yet been confirmed.

Seasonal headwinds also remain. Bitcoin has posted negative returns in September in nine of the past 15 years. Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat, noted that seasonality is a useful reference but not a perfect trading signal, adding that bitcoin has not followed its traditionally weak September pattern over the past three years.

Ultimately, analysts say whether bitcoin can consolidate above $80,000 will hinge on the FOMC meeting on Sept. 16 and upcoming US inflation data. If rate-hold expectations hold, further gains toward previous highs are possible — but a resurgence in inflation or oil prices could erase the recent rally.