'RBC Crypto' does not provide investment advice, the material is published for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is a volatile asset that can lead to financial losses.
On the morning of August 19, Bitcoin ($BTC) is trading around $64.3k; since the beginning of July, its price has been in a narrow range of $62k–65k. Ethereum ($ETH) is trading above $1.91k, having stayed in the $1.83k–1.95k range for the fifth consecutive week. The price of the first cryptocurrency has remained almost unchanged, while the second has gained over 1% in the past 24 hours.
In the catalogs of major online exchange aggregators, offers to sell the Tether ($USDT) stablecoin on the TRC20 standard for cash rubles or via the Faster Payments System (FPS) start at 88.5 rubles per 1 $USDT.
The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is above $2.2 trillion. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stands at 46 points (in the "Fear" zone) out of 100 possible — indicating that investors are still inclined to sell cryptocurrencies. Since the beginning of the week, the index has risen by 16 points.
Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization over the past 24 hours, Velvet (VELVET) — the token of a platform for trading and portfolio management in the decentralized finance sector with built-in AI tools — showed the largest increase of 17%. Over the same period, the token of the Jito (JTO) project, a liquid staking protocol on the Solana network, fell the most by 5%.
Regarding exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on $BTC, capital inflow during the trading session on August 18 amounted to nearly $190 million. $ETH-funds recorded an inflow of almost $72 million.
Bitcoin News
On the evening of August 18, the price of Bitcoin briefly exceeded $65k per coin, reaching a weekly high. Although the increase was about 1%, it was notable because at the same time, the key US stock indices S&P 500 and NASDAQ fell by 0.5% and 1.3%, respectively. As did gold prices, which also showed a decline of just under 1%.
Experts noted this trend but pointed to statistics where such behavior of the main cryptocurrency's price is becoming increasingly rare, with Bitcoin outperforming US indices only on one in three trading days.
Against this backdrop, the asset management company VanEck stated that Bitcoin's price is completing its correction phase. Citing their own observations, they noted that "8 out of 12 signals of trader capitulation have been triggered," meaning there are almost no "weak hands" left in the market. Additionally, analysts provided statistics that long-term Bitcoin holders have presumably sold around 356k $BTC over the past month (over $22 billion).
At the same time, other industry representatives made statements about positive prospects for the cryptocurrency. Gemini crypto exchange CEO Cameron Winklevoss believes that the rise in artificial intelligence sector stocks and waning interest in Bitcoin "have created a unique opportunity to buy Bitcoin on the downturn."
Cryptocurrency News
One of the most notable pieces of news was the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) publishing new crypto regulation rules. The agency proposed a "clear framework" for determining whether specific cryptocurrencies are securities or not. Potentially, this will provide organizations with an understanding of how and under what conditions they can raise capital for crypto projects.
Separately in the crypto market, the topic of tokenizing real-world assets stood out. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says: "We are at the early stages of a global supercycle of tokenization" that "will engulf the entire financial system."
Chief Investment Officer at asset management company Bitwise, Matt Hougan, highlighted mistakes made by cryptocurrency investors. One of the main misconceptions, he believes, is underestimating the tokenization market and investors betting on traditional financial products instead of native crypto projects.
Hougan's opinion runs counter to the general market trend, where crypto investors have switched to trading stocks instead of cryptocurrencies.
General Partner of the oldest Bitcoin fund, Pantera Capital, Cosmo Jiang, highlighted the Solana blockchain as the primary network for developing the AI agent economy due to its faster and cheaper operations. Meanwhile, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sees the x402 protocol as the flagship for developing this trend.
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