Bitcoin rallies as European demand outpaces US interest

Bitcoin has a geography problem, and for once Europe is on the winning side of it. Europe’s Bitcoin market has gained 4% since early September. The US market has declined by 3% over the same stretch. The numbers behind the split Start with price. Bitcoin sat near $75,000 in mid-September 2026, a level that had traders nervously checking their stop-losses. By September 23, it had climbed to over $87,000. It then drifted back and has been stabilizing in the $83,000 to $85,000 range. One clue comes from the Coinbase Premium Index. Think of it as a price thermometer comparing what Bitcoin costs on Coinbase, a venue heavily used by US investors, with what it costs on global platforms like Binance. When the reading is positive, Americans are paying up to get their hands on Bitcoin. When it’s negative, they’re bidding below the rest of the world. Around October 3, 2026, the index had printed negative values for 29 consecutive days, ranging from –0.01% to –0.03%. Broader demand data paints a similar picture. CryptoQuant’s apparent spot demand metric showed a contraction of around 170,000 BTC over the 30 days leading into early October. Wait, what about the ETFs During the week of September...