Bitcoin Price on August 22 – Bitcoin Holds Steady as Crypto Market Cap Dips Below $2.15 Trillion

Bitcoin Price on August 22 – Spot Bitcoin ETF Inflows Weak as Institutional Interest Remains Low

Bitcoin Price on August 22 – Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading sideways between $59,900 and $61,000 over the past 24 hours. The broader cryptocurrency market cap has slightly retreated to $2.1 trillion, falling short of the $2.15 trillion mark that was previously targeted.

Major Tokens Show Mixed Performance

While Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Binance Coin (BNB) posted modest gains, TRON (TRX) experienced a decline following a recent rally. Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have remained weak, indicating a lack of fresh institutional interest.

Ether Liquid Staking Derivatives Set to Double

Ether Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs) are on track to double by August 2025, according to forecasts by HashKey Capital. The total value locked in Ether LSDs reached $36.25 billion, with Lido holding a 70% market share. This represents significant growth from August 2023’s value of around $22 billion.

Bitcoin’s Recent Price Movements

Bitcoin’s price zigzagged between $61,000 and $59,900, maintaining its sideways movement due to the absence of strong catalysts. Late Wednesday, BTC saw a brief spike following a revision in U.S. job growth figures for March 2024, which showed a decrease of 818,000 jobs compared to earlier reports.

Political Developments Impacting Market Sentiment

News that Robert Kennedy Jr. might withdraw from the 2024 presidential race and endorse Republican candidate Donald Trump—who has promised pro-crypto policies if elected—also influenced market sentiment. Polymarket bettors currently assign a 94% chance to this scenario, reflecting a major shift in political forecasts.

Short-Lived BTC Price Surge

The initial surge in Bitcoin’s price was short-lived. Traders quickly took profits, causing BTC to drop back to $59,900. However, the price recovered to over $60,800 during Asian trading hours on Thursday, resulting in slight gains across the broader market.

Market Cap and Institutional Demand

“The crypto market failed once again to break through the $2.15 trillion cap, falling 2.3% to $2.1 trillion, nearly returning to Tuesday’s levels,” noted Alex Kuptsikevich from FxPro. He pointed out that Bitcoin retreated after testing its 50-day moving average and has been range-bound for six days.

Institutional Shifts Towards Safer Assets

Kuptsikevich also highlighted a shift in institutional demand towards safer assets, such as gold, which hit record highs on Tuesday. This shift has impacted Bitcoin, which faces bearish pressure from muted ETF inflows. Only $39 million in net inflows were recorded for U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday, signaling a lack of new demand from professional investors.

Token Performance Overview

Major tokens including Ethereum (ETH), Solana’s (SOL), and Binance Coin (BNB) saw increases of up to 2%. Conversely, Dogecoin (DOGE) and XRP (XRP) remained relatively unchanged, while TRON’s (TRX) price dropped 4.5% following a rally driven by a new memecoin generator.

Performance of CoinDesk 20 and Other Tokens

The CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, which tracks the largest tokens by market cap, increased by 1.54%. Polygon’s MATIC rose by 12% as it nears a token migration to POL, a unified token for all Polygon blockchains. Chainlink’s LINK gained 15% following its data feeds integration into Aave’s new release on the zkSync blockchain, indicating increased demand for the token.

Outlook for Ether LSDs

HashKey Capital’s forecast suggests that despite stagnant ETH prices, the demand for staking continues to rise. The number of validators has surged to an all-time high of around 7,400, although annualized staking yields have remained steady at 3.5% for the past four months. This reflects ongoing growth in ETH staking and LSDs despite challenges related to incentives and ETH’s long-term role within its ecosystem.

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