Bitcoin gained almost 19% from August 14 to August 21, 2026. This allowed $BTC to update its price maximum for the last two and a half months. Wednesday, August 19, when the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization grew by more than 7%, became the best day in the last six months.
Source: tradingview.com
The main catalyst for the rapid growth of Bitcoin was the statement by the US Department of the Treasury about increasing the purchase of government bonds with maturities from 10 to 20 and from 20 to 30 years at least twofold. The statement triggered a collapse in Treasury yields and a flow of capital into risky assets like Bitcoin.
$BTC received support from a meeting between Donald Trump and representatives of the crypto industry on August 19. The American president urged Congress to consider the stalled CLARITY bill. Trump's positive rhetoric regarding cryptocurrencies added optimism to investors.
Another reason for the growth of $BTC was mass short liquidations from August 19 to August 21. In less than three days, short positions worth over $2.1 billion were forcibly closed. During the same period, only $48.19 million in long positions were liquidated, which is 43.6 times less.
Source: coinglass.com
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a weekly inflow of funds of $1 billion for the first time since January. The majority of this amount, $588.54 million, came from BlackRock's fund, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
Source: sosovalue.com
From a technical analysis perspective, Bitcoin's trend has become upward. This is confirmed by the price overcoming the 50-day moving average (marked in blue) and its position well above it. However, the RSI indicator has entered the overbought zone, which serves as a harbinger of at least a short-term correction. The former resistance level of $67,253 has now become support. The principle of polarity change has worked. The new resistance on the daily chart is the zone around $76,000.
Source: tradingview.com
The Fear and Greed Index made a huge gain of 43 points to 72 compared to last week. Greed now prevails in the sentiments of crypto investors.
Ethereum
Ether added more than 26% from August 14 to August 21. $ETH rose above $2300 for the first time since May. Most of the growth occurred on Wednesday, August 19, when the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization rose in price by 17.51%.
Source: tradingview.com
The growth of Ether was facilitated by a surge in trading volume. According to Coinglass, on August 20, the cumulative figure exceeded $90 billion. Prior to this, Ether's trading volume last reached such figures on June 6.
Source: coinglass.com
Spot Ethereum ETFs recorded an inflow of funds for the sixth time in seven weeks. Its size this time was $291.47 million. The majority of this amount, $212.7 million, came from BlackRock's fund, the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA).
Ethereum continues to prepare for the Glamsterdam hard fork. This week, developers launched a new test network, Plataberget. It will be used to test the capabilities of the hard fork. Then Glamsterdam will be deployed in the older test networks Sepolia and Hoodi. Presumably, Plataberget will involve 50,000 validators distributed across 50 nodes to test various combinations of client software.
Source: sosovalue.com
From a technical analysis perspective, Ether, like Bitcoin, has switched to an upward trend. Confirmation is the price exceeding the 50-day moving average (marked in blue). Nevertheless, the Stochastic has risen into the overbought zone, indicating a likely correction in the near future. The nearest support and resistance levels on the daily chart are $2219.3 and $2469.3.
Source: tradingview.com
Dogecoin
The largest memecoin by market capitalization, Dogecoin, like other major altcoins, also became a beneficiary of the growth of $BTC and $ETH. Co-founder of this cryptocurrency Billy Markus, known under the pseudonym Shibetoshi Nakamoto, commented on this:
"Crypto is back!?!?!?!?! Is the 2026 nightmare over ?!?!!?"
Statements on social networks usually have a strong influence on the mood of DOGE holders and investors. This time, the positivity resulted in a 20.12% growth from August 14 to August 21.
Source: tradingview.com
Zcash
The crypto industry is getting closer to the appearance of the first spot ETF on $ZEC. This week, Grayscale filed its fourth version of an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its Grayscale Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund. Compared to the previous version, the main difference is in how ETF shares will be created and redeemed. Primarily for fiat money. However, the option for in-kind creation of shares remains, but for redemption, it does not. It also discloses the intention of DCG, Grayscale's parent company, to invest 200,000 $ZEC (about $110 million) in the fund's shares through an authorized market participant on the exchange. The potential new ETF will trade on the NYSE Arca platform, but information on management fees is not yet disclosed.
The appearance of a spot exchange-traded fund on Zcash suggests an inflow of corporate capital. It is not surprising that investors reacted positively to the news, resulting in a weekly growth of 31.28%.
Source: tradingview.com
Ethena
Developers of the Ethena cryptocurrency, together with the crypto brokerage company FalconX, launched a $1 billion lending program. The program is designed for corporate investors. The reserves backing the stablecoin $USDe will be used as loanable funds. Loans can be taken out with collateral exceeding the value of the borrowed assets. FalconX is responsible for all administrative work. The benefit for Ethena is an additional source of income related to $USDe.
Against the backdrop of the launch of a new product, as well as general optimism in the crypto market, Ethena added 59.5% over the past week, approaching its May highs.
Source: tradingview.com
Conclusion
The result of the week was a stormy growth in the price of Bitcoin and altcoins. Investors positively received the news about the increase in the budget that the US Department of the Treasury will allocate for the purchase of government bonds. This caused an increase in trading volumes on crypto exchanges and the liquidation of short positions of speculators.
This material and the information in it are not individual or any other recommendation. The opinion of the editorial staff may not coincide with the opinions of analytical portals and experts.
