Markets kicked off the week in risk-on mode on Monday, with Bitcoin breaking above $85,000, AI stocks surging and falling oil prices helping lift sentiment across Wall Street. From AMD joining the $1 trillion club to Strategy returning to the Bitcoin market, here are today’s biggest stories across stocks and crypto.
Bitcoin Breaks Above $85,000
Bitcoin surged above $85,000 for the first time since January, extending a powerful rebound from last week’s lows and briefly pushing toward $86,000. BTC gained more than 5% over 24 hours as improving risk sentiment and a major short squeeze helped accelerate the move.
More than $750 million in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data cited by The Block, with around $648 million coming from traders betting on falling prices. The rally also pushed Bitcoin back above the average cost basis of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF investors for the first time since January.
AMD Joins the $1 Trillion Club
AMD became the latest semiconductor giant to reach a $1 trillion market valuation, with shares jumping around 10% to a record high on Monday. The milestone comes as enthusiasm around artificial intelligence stocks has returned strongly following recent volatility.
AMD shares have now climbed roughly 185% in 2026, significantly outperforming the broader Nasdaq. Investors have increasingly focused on AMD’s expansion beyond individual processors into complete AI computing systems as it attempts to take a larger share of the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market.
Falling Oil Prices Give Wall Street a Boost
A sharp decline in oil prices added another tailwind for stocks. U.S. crude fell around 4.8%, while Brent dropped approximately 3.6%, amid signs of increased Gulf exports and expectations that some disrupted Saudi supply could return.
Lower energy prices also helped ease pressure on bond markets, allowing Treasury yields to retreat. The combination of falling oil, lower yields and renewed enthusiasm around AI helped push the Nasdaq sharply higher during Monday’s session.
Meta Surges as AI Optimism Returns
Meta Platforms was another standout, with shares climbing approximately 6.7% as investors returned to major AI-related names. The stock was also supported by a bullish analyst outlook ahead of Meta’s upcoming product announcements.
The move helped communication-services stocks outperform and demonstrated how quickly investor appetite for large technology companies has returned following the recent market pullback.
Accenture and Anthropic Deepen AI Partnership
Accenture shares also gained after the consulting giant announced a major partnership with Anthropic focused on evaluating the safety and reliability of advanced AI models.
The companies plan to invest around $2 billion through the initiative as businesses and regulators increasingly focus on ensuring that increasingly powerful AI systems can be deployed safely and reliably.
Strategy Returns to Bitcoin Buying
Michael Saylor’s Strategy has resumed its Bitcoin accumulation after a roughly three-week pause, purchasing another 950 BTC for $75.7 million.
The Bitcoin was acquired at an average price of approximately $79,670 per coin, bringing Strategy’s total holdings to around 846,000 BTC. Strategy shares surged alongside Bitcoin on Monday as crypto-linked stocks benefited from the broader rally.
Circle Launches Bitcoin-Backed USDC Borrowing
Circle has launched a new service allowing eligible institutional customers to borrow USDC against their Bitcoin without selling their BTC.
Through Circle Mint, institutions can deposit Bitcoin, mint Circle’s wrapped Bitcoin token cirBTC, supply it as collateral and borrow USDC through supported onchain lending markets. Morpho is the first supported lending protocol, with Circle saying additional platforms including Aave are expected to follow.
The launch marks another step toward integrating Bitcoin into institutional lending and treasury operations, allowing long-term holders to access dollar liquidity while maintaining their underlying BTC exposure.
With Bitcoin above $85,000, AI stocks roaring higher and oil prices falling, Monday has delivered one of the strongest broad risk-on sessions in recent weeks. The next question is whether that momentum can continue through the rest of the week.
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