Last Updated on 14/08/2026
The total crypto market capitalization has remained largely unchanged, hovering around its $2.19 trillion “centre of gravity” for a third consecutive day. It has traded within a narrow $2.18 trillion–$2.20 trillion range, extending the broader sideways trend that has persisted since early June.
Prolonged periods of consolidation often encourage traders to tighten stop-loss levels and increase leverage as they become increasingly confident that the market will remain range-bound. This can sometimes set the stage for a final capitulation move, in which prices are pushed sharply lower before a recovery begins.
At the same time, large trading volumes frequently emerge toward the end of extended consolidation phases as long-term investors gradually build positions around their market expectations. In the current environment, some investors may be positioning ahead of potential cryptocurrency legislation expected later this autumn after Congress returns from recess. While the medium-term outlook remains constructive, the possibility of another sharp correction over the coming weeks should not be dismissed.
Bitcoin has struggled to move decisively away from support, hovering near $64,000 for a third consecutive day. The cryptocurrency was trading slightly below this level on Thursday morning but remained above its 50-day moving average.
Interestingly, the current price area is close to the highs recorded during Bitcoin’s 2021 bull market. A similar pattern emerged three years ago, when Bitcoin’s decline eventually found a floor around $20,000—roughly matching the peak of the previous bull market in late 2017.
This historical pattern strengthens the possibility that the current decline is approaching exhaustion, particularly as bearish momentum weakens and Bitcoin moves closer to its 200-week moving average. While short-term speculators may still be waiting for a more attractive entry point, long-term investors appear to be steadily accumulating around current levels. The relative stability of Bitcoin despite significant volatility across other markets provides further evidence of this underlying demand.
At the end of 2022, Bitcoin briefly traded almost 25% below $20,000 before staging a strong recovery, effectively providing investors with a significant “discount.” A similar scenario could occur this time, although relying on another deep pullback would be risky.
News Background
Bitcoin’s extended downtrend may have reached a “point of exhaustion,” according to Fairlead Strategies, as selling pressure has eased. However, fading bearish momentum does not necessarily mean that an immediate reversal is imminent.
Twenty One Capital posted a $413.5 million net loss in Q2, largely reflecting the decline in the value of Bitcoin held on its balance sheet. The company is the second-largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin, with 43,514 BTC valued at approximately $2.8 billion.
Strategy CEO Phong Le said the company plans to resume Bitcoin purchases by the end of the year. He noted that its buying activity has been roughly 25 times greater than its selling, with Strategy purchasing approximately 175,000 BTC since January while selling around 7,000 BTC. Le described Strategy as the “JPMorgan of the digital economy.”
Bitcoin miners continue to face weak fee revenue. Glassnode reports that transaction fees remain close to 10-year lows, while July was reportedly the least profitable month for miners in almost three years. Fees have represented less than 1% of miners’ total revenue over the past year.
Crypto spot trading activity also weakened in July. According to Wu Blockchain, spot volumes across crypto exchanges dropped 21.7% from June, falling below the $500 billion threshold for the first time in three years. Futures activity, meanwhile, was approximately seven times larger than spot trading.
On August 12, a routing failure at infrastructure provider TeraSwitch temporarily took validators representing 28.8% of Solana’s staked tokens offline. The figure came close to the 33.34% threshold at which the network would have stopped finalising transactions.
Meanwhile, two heavily leveraged Bitcoin short positions worth more than $210 million combined were opened on Hyperliquid using 40x leverage. Their liquidation levels are reportedly around $64,100 and $64,600, respectively.
In a separate development, one of Hong Kong’s early crypto millionaires, who began investing in cryptocurrencies in 2013, was found dead in Paraguay. Chainalysis reported 46 attacks targeting cryptocurrency holders during the first half of the year, resulting in losses exceeding $30 million.
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