The Bitcoin Layer

The Bitcoin Layer

Bitcoin Is Stuck At $64,000

Priced for Silence: Institutional exposure rises, hedge funds hedge, and the volatility complex prices a silence it is unlikely to get

Johan Bergman's avatar
Johan Bergman
Aug 19, 2026
∙ Paid

Article brought to you by:

Use code TBL to waive the $50 setup fee to open your account today!

Open Your Account Today

Learn more at SOUNDHSA.com


Okay campers, rise and shine!

Another week has passed, with yet another price tag of $64,000. I’m not sure of today’s date anymore. Today could be April 2021, November 2021, pick almost any day of 2024, or somewhere during the summer of 2026.

We’ve shown you this before, and we’re not doing it to rub salt in the wounds. It just shows perfectly how recent investors feel. The index on performance since the halving is at 99.6. After 851 days, the current price is beneath the price at the most recent halving. Yes, the halving got front-run by the Spot ETF approvals, but that doesn’t matter for people who bought in around $60,000.

This cycle has not been about price pain (heavy drawdowns); it’s been about time pain. Absolutely brutal. The promise was something like the blue, green, or purple line…instead we got the orange line.

This week’s shorter letter is about contradicting headlines versus our own data, in two places at once: the derivatives market and institutional adoption through 13F filings.


TL;DR Summary

User's avatar

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Nik Bhatia.

Or purchase a paid subscription.
© 2026 Nik Bhatia · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture