Bitcoin heads for second-best third quarter on record
Bitcoin has gained about 43.5% since July, putting it on course for its second-strongest third quarter, U.Today reports, after losses in the first half of the year.
Key points
- Bitcoin is up roughly 43.5% in the July-September period, according to CoinGlass data cited by U.Today.
- That would rank as the second-best third quarter in the dataset, behind only the 80.41% gain in 2017.
- The quarter has already beaten 2013's 40.6% Q3 rise by about three percentage points.
- Bitcoin fell 22.2% in Q1 and 14.09% in Q2, so a 43.5% Q3 gain would end a two-quarter losing streak.
- CoinGlass puts Bitcoin's average Q3 return at 8.73% and its average Q4 return at 77.07%.
Bitcoin is on course for its second-best third quarter on record, according to CoinGlass data reported by U.Today. The cryptocurrency has gained roughly 43.5% between July and September, a sharp reversal after a weak first half of the year.
The gain would place the quarter behind only 2017, when Bitcoin rose 80.41% over the same three months. It has already overtaken the 40.6% recorded in the third quarter of 2013 by around three percentage points, U.Today reports.
Bitcoin was trading at about $84,800 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko. The move follows a 22.2% loss in the first quarter and a further 14.09% decline in the second, so the current advance would snap a two-quarter losing streak.
A record third quarter
The result stands out against the historical pattern. CoinGlass puts Bitcoin's average third-quarter return at just 8.73%, with a median of 2.29%, and eight of the 14 Q3 periods in its table have been positive. Most of those gains were modest: 25.01% in 2021, 17.97% in 2020, 6.31% in 2025 and under 1% in 2024.
The third quarter has also produced heavy losses in some years. Bitcoin fell 39.74% in 2014 and 22.86% in 2019, and lost 11.54% in the third quarter of 2023, according to the same data.
Attention now turns to the fourth quarter, which has historically been Bitcoin's strongest. CoinGlass puts the average Q4 return at 77.07%, the highest of the four quarters, with a median of 47.73%, and eight of the 13 completed periods in the table finished positive.
Q3 usually subdued
Some of Bitcoin's largest rallies came in the final three months of the year, including 479.59% in 2013, 215.07% in 2017 and 168.02% in 2020. The quarter has also delivered steep falls, such as 42.16% in 2018 and 23.07% in 2025, with losses also recorded in 2014, 2019 and 2022.