According to CMC: August Crypto Market Overview
Bitcoin steadies, altseason builds momentum, stablecoins evolve post-GENIUS Act, and digital asset treasuries reshape crypto markets.
Chapter 1: Market Overview
Market eyes ATH — Are we breaking the spell of bad Augusts?
August has historically been a bad month for crypto, often experiencing unexpected black swan events that impact the markets. Bitcoin (BTC) has seen negative returns in August eight out of the past 12 years, with a median return of -7.49%. However, this year has been different.
Despite BTC being down 4.98%, quite a few large-cap coins have seen new all-time highs, and altseason seems to be making a comeback. Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and BNB all saw new all-time highs this month, and the total crypto market cap remains strong as we head into September.
The CMC Fear and Greed Index shifted from 68 (Greed) to 47 (Neutral) over the course of the month as BTC bounced around in the $109,000-$124,000 range, currently sitting around $112,000 at the time of writing.
The global crypto market cap now sits at $3.87 trillion (up 0.26% over the past 30 days), while the 24-hour trade volume has remained at an active level this past week, driven by increased volatility in the market.
Altcoin Market Sees Clear Upward Momentum
Altcoins spent August quietly shifting the market narrative. The CMC Altcoin Season Index climbed from 39 to 58, suggesting that Bitcoin’s grip on the markets is loosening.
BTC rose a modest +7% over the past 90 days, but it was dwarfed by rallies elsewhere. OKB (+230%) and CRO (+190%) dominated the exchange-treasury camp, ETH (+72%) pulled the L1 complex higher, and DeFi staples like UNI (+59%) and LINK (+69%) caught a strong bid. Even memecoins such as B (+76%) drew speculative flows, the classic “tail” that wags when confidence in altcoins starts to rebuild.
So, why now? Three factors stand out. First, treasury accumulation and corporate balance sheet plays have lit a fire under exchange tokens, feeding into the broader digital asset treasury (DAT) narrative that treats these coins as reserves. Second, ETH’s outperformance vs. BTC has historically marked the start of rotation phases. As institutions and funds diversify beyond Bitcoin, capital naturally trickles down into other L1s and their ecosystems. And third, DeFi is being reimagined as a yield engine just as rates are expected to soften, making UNI, LINK, and Pendle attractive again to both institutions and retail investors chasing income streams.
The implication is that August may be more than a one-off. If ETH continues to outperform, and if treasuries keep stockpiling exchange tokens, the Altcoin Season Index could push decisively above 60 in September. That would mark a strong handover from a Bitcoin-led market to a broad-based altcoin cycle. In that environment, the next leg higher is likely to come from DeFi liquidity tokens and smaller ecosystem plays, while memecoins will remain the high-beta barometers of sentiment.
For now, August feels less like a peak and more like the overture — the early notes of altcoin season building toward something louder.
Top Gainers/Losers This Month (from CMC Top 100 projects)
Speculative Weakness: Memecoins, Experiments, and Stagnant DeFi August was marked by a clear retreat in speculative and weaker narratives. Memecoins such as BONK (-32%), WIF (-20%), and FLOKI (-19%) all corrected sharply, pointing to a rotation away from hype-driven trades toward tokens with more structural or treasury-linked value. This reversal follows months of outsized gains and suggests speculative excess is being unwound as investors demand sturdier foundations.
Top Lossers
A similar story played out in niche experiments like SPX6900 (-41%) and Fartcoin (-28%), which rely heavily on novelty and retail-driven flows. With liquidity consolidating around more established plays, the appetite for micro-narratives appears to be fading.
Even among established DeFi incumbents, weakness persisted. Curve DAO (CRV -20%) extended its decline, reinforcing skepticism about whether older protocols can remain competitive in a landscape increasingly dominated by newer, yield-optimized platforms.
Taken together, the month’s losers illustrate a market that is becoming more selective. Speculation is still present but losing dominance as capital gravitates away from meme-driven froth and experimental tokens and places a premium on utility, treasury strength and sustainable yield.
Most Bullish By CMC Community
Chapter 2: Stablecoins Redefined Following the GENIUS Act
The GENIUS Act, passed by Congress and signed into law in July, has pushed stablecoins into a new growth phase, with their total supply now sitting at an all-time high of $270 billion. The legislation not only unlocks new institutional inflows but also splits the market into two clear categories: yield-bearing instruments and payment-focused rails.
The standout winner is Ethena’s USDe, which added $6.45 billion to its circulating supply in just four weeks. By blending delta-neutral futures strategies, ETH staking, and DeFi leverage loops, USDe has evolved into a yield-generating savings product, attracting capital that might otherwise have flowed into traditional bonds or money markets.
Meanwhile, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC stablecoins remain central to the payments narrative, adding $5.9 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. Tether continues to thrive on entrenched liquidity and network effects, while Circle’s strategy highlights the cost of buying distribution on major exchanges. Newer entrants like Sky’s USDS and PayPal’s PYUSD show that challengers are finding their own niches to carve out market share, either through ecosystem-native growth or fintech integration.
The result is a bifurcated market: stablecoins as safe, liquid money rails on one side and as yield-bearing assets on the other. Both models are scaling rapidly, setting the stage for the next competitive phase in stablecoin dominance.
Chapter 3: Digital Asset Treasuries: BTC Fortress vs. ETH Yield Play
Both BTC and ETH DATs exhibit notable head effects, with MicroStrategy (BTC) and BitMine (ETH) showing a cliff-like lead in market cap, treasury NAV, and trading volume. Wall Street trusted spokesmen like Michael Saylor and Tom Lee drive their dominance, while other crypto DATs lacking such figures lag behind.
Digital asset treasury companies operate as hybrid vehicles between traditional equities and direct crypto holdings. Their model is simple yet powerful: By holding significant amounts of crypto assets, they trade at a stock market capitalization that often exceeds the value of their underlying treasury. This premium allows them to raise capital in public markets and continuously accumulate more crypto.
For investors restricted from direct exposure to digital assets, DATs provide a proxy, with the added advantage that higher premiums translate into more buying power and faster crypto accumulation per share.
itcoin Dominance and Market Leadership
Bitcoin remains the cornerstone of the DAT market, representing roughly 84% of total DAT crypto net asset value (NAV). Trading activity is heavily concentrated in Strategy ($MSTR), which accounts for the majority of BTC DAT liquidity and investor flows.
- Scale effect: Strategy’s treasury alone holds over 632,457 BTC (3.2% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply), dwarfing other BTC-focused treasuries such as Twenty One and Metaplanet.
- Premium dynamics: With $MSTR trading at a significant premium to its treasury NAV, it effectively acts as a leveraged Bitcoin vehicle, giving shareholders amplified exposure.
This creates a “head effect” in the Bitcoin DAT market, where a few dominant players concentrate most of the value and liquidity, leaving smaller DATs with marginal influence.
Ethereum DATs: The Emerging Challenger
While Bitcoin DATs dominate in size, ETH-focused DATs are rapidly gaining traction:
- Trading volumes: ETH DATs captured 37.2% of July’s total DAT trading volume, a notable rise in market share from previous months.
- Leaders: Players like BitMine and SharpLink Gaming have emerged as flagbearers, showing a cliff-like lead in market cap, NAV and liquidity compared with other ETH DATs.
- Strategic advantage: Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum offers staking yields (around 3%), allowing DATs to compound their treasuries passively. This introduces a structural tailwind for ETH-focused DATs, making them attractive not just for directional exposure but also for yield-based accumulation.
Beyond BTC and ETH: Proof-of-Stake Assets in Focus
Beyond ETH, other proof-of-stake (PoS) assets are also beginning to surface within corporate treasuries:
- Solana: SOL currently accounts for a roughly 7% yield potential, though DAT holdings represent less than 1% of the total SOL supply.
- BNB and Tron: Similarly, the amount of BNB and TRX in DAT holdings remains below 1% of their total supplies, reflecting an early stage of institutional and corporate adoption.
- Relative appeal: The yield mechanics of PoS tokens provide a different investment thesis than Bitcoin. Instead of acting purely as a “digital gold” reserve, they align more with income-generating treasuries.
Supply Absorption and Market Impact
DATs play a growing role in crypto asset absorption:
- BTC: DATs collectively hold 3.52% of the total supply, a concentration that reinforces the thesis of Bitcoin as the institutional reserve asset of choice.
- ETH: DAT holdings amount to 2.52% of the supply, with clear growth momentum as more treasuries adopt staking as part of their accumulation strategy.
- Other assets: While still nascent, corporate accumulation of SOL, BNB and TRX signals the beginning of multi-asset treasury diversification.
The DAT ecosystem has evolved into a two-tier market: Bitcoin DATs dominate in absolute scale and remain the preferred choice for investors seeking pure directional exposure, with MicroStrategy at the helm. On the other hand, ETH DATs are emerging as the growth story, benefiting from rising trading volumes, staking yields and a widening investor base.While other PoS assets like SOL and BNB are still minor players, their yield-generating characteristics position them as potential future entrants into the DAT spotlight. But for now, the market narrative is defined by a BTC fortress of scale vs. ETH’s yield-driven momentum.
