Crypto’s Rocky August Kickoff: Navigating a Brutal Month Ahead
Crypto markets stumbled out the gate this August—and the road ahead looks treacherous. Here’s why traders are sweating.
Blood in the streets (again)
Another month, another liquidity crunch. Bitcoin’s failed breakout at $42K has altcoins bleeding out—just as institutional players take their summer vacations. Classic.
Whales playing dead
Volume’s collapsed 30% since July’s ETF hype. Now even ‘diamond hands’ are eyeing exits before September’s macro storm hits. Thanks, Fed.
The silver lining? There isn’t one.
Unless you count Tether printers firing up ‘for liquidity purposes’ (wink) as bullish. Grab your helmets—this month’s gonna separate the degens from the ‘long-term investors.’
Market picture
The crypto market lost 2.7% over the past 24 hours to $3.75 trillion, the level of a week earlier. As this was not the first day of decline, the biggest hit was to altcoins, with ETH losing 5.6% and XRP losing 6%, compared to a 3% loss for BTC.
The cryptocurrency sentiment index fell to 65, its lowest level since 8 July, after three weeks of extreme greed. Clearly, the inability to grow disappointed speculators and increased bearish sentiment.
Bitcoin is trading at $115K, falling below $114K at the most vulnerable time at the start of Asian trading. The first cryptocurrency has given up almost half of its gains from the lows at the start of the month to the peaks on 14 July. Heavy selling in the second half of the month is darkening the clouds, but it will take more than just fatigue and a lack of news to reverse the trend. Last month and August 2024 also saw a weak start, so this comes as no surprise.
News background
Bitcoin rose 8.3% in July to $116,500, strengthening for the fourth consecutive month after a two-month decline. In terms of seasonality, August is considered one of the two most unfavourable months for BTC. Over the past 14 years, Bitcoin has ended the month with growth only five times and has declined nine times. For the last three years, Bitcoin has been unsuccessful. The average decline was 14.7%, while the average growth was 26%.
According to Strategic ETH Reserve, corporate ethereum reserves exceeded $10 billion. Sixty-five companies hold 2.73 million ETH on their balance sheets, which is 2.26% of the second cryptocurrency's total supply.
Standard Chartered Bank expects large companies to accumulate Ethereum as a strategic asset and buy up to 10% of the cryptocurrency's total supply.
The American bank JPMorgan has announced an expansion of its cooperation with the Coinbase crypto exchange. The bank's customers will be allowed to buy cryptocurrencies using credit cards.
