As Bitcoin Corrects, Top Altcoins Surge on Outlook for Potential U.S. Rate Cut in September

Stay up to date with our monthly market commentary:

• U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced their first net outflow in over five months. 
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell shows dovish behavior with potential September rate cuts. 
• Bitcoin (BTC) closed the month down 5.3%, while Ether (ETH) is up 22% compared to last month.*

Market Overview - August 

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) dropped by 5.3% in August, closing the month at around the $108,500 mark.

While Bitcoin rallied immediately after dovish comments in Jackson Hole by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the largest cryptocurrency ended the month in the red. We also saw the first net outflows out of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in over five months. 

Powell commented on the current economic situation and said that the softening of the U.S. labor market could offset the risks of President Trump’s tariffs worsening inflation. He elaborated that “with policy in restrictive territory, the baseline outlook and the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance.” 

His comments were overall positively received, followed by a notable surge in digital asset prices. Ether (ETH) in particular reached a new all-time high of $4,946.05 on August 24th, 48 hours after the Jackson Hole meeting. 

Crypto Asset Market Performance Review 

The crypto asset market painted a mixed picture in August. Bitcoin (BTC) finished the month down 5.3%, while Ether (ETH) emerged as the second-best performer this month with a 22% gain after Polygon (POL), which rallied 37.2%. 

BTC wasn't able to follow a strong July and closed the month down 5.3%, although there was a brief recovery in the middle of August after dovish comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The digital currency finished the month at $108,500. 

ETH, on the other hand, was able to maintain its momentum and reached a new all-time high of $4,946.05 on August 24th. The second-largest crypto asset finished the month up 22%.

The best-performing large-cap crypto asset this month was Polygon (POL), with a 37.2% increase. As one of the largest Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, Polygon has consistently been a favorite among investors due to its low fees and fast transaction times. This month, they announced an upgrade to their protocol and a new partnership with Tether, where the USDT-stablecoin will be natively on the network under the ticker USDT0. 

The remainder of the crypto asset market experienced an overall positive month, with notable gains in assets such as Solana (SOL), up 21.4%, Cardano (ADA), up 15%, Binance Coin (BNB), up 11.3%, and Dogecoin (DOGE), up 6.6%.  

Institutional Interest in Bitcoin

In August, we saw the first net outflow month for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in five months and learned that ETFs and funds hold almost 8% of the total BTC supply.  

U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs Recorded $751 Million in Net Outflows in August

Following a record-breaking July, which saw net inflows of over $6 billion, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced their first net outflow in over five months. 

Taking a closer look at the weekly inflows of August, the week of August 22nd had the greatest negative impact, recording net outflows of over $1.17 billion.

This trend followed Bitcoin's price, with a significant price correction of over 10% in just one week. U.S. tech equities saw a similar behaviour in the same week, as investors turned bearish.

Despite the outflow month, all U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs still hold more than $139 billion in net assets, with BlackRock's IBIT ETF being the clear leader, with assets under management exceeding $80 billion.  

ETFs and Funds Hold Over 1.63 Million BTC or 7.8% of Bitcoin's Total Supply

Ever since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., institutional investors have been accumulating and allocating to Bitcoin at a rapid pace. 

This trend is also evident in a recent study by River Financial, which found that ETFs and funds hold over 1.63 million BTC, or 7.8% of the 21 million Coins. Additionally, the percentage of companies that hold BTC as a strategic reserve asset also increased to 1.30 million BTC, or 6.2% of the total supply. 

Such an increase in adoption among businesses showcases Bitcoin's use case as a strategic reserve asset, as well as the growing interest of institutional investors in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin on Balance Sheets

Strategy, the largest publicly traded holder of Bitcoin, continued its efforts to buy Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. In August, the company purchased 3,666 BTC, bringing its total balance sheet holdings to 632,457 BTC. 

Metaplanet, a publicly traded Japanese company, announced last month that it will issue $208 million in 0% interest rate ordinary bonds to acquire more Bitcoin. In August, the Japanese company bought 1,859 BTC, ending the month with 18,991 BTC on its balance sheet. 

Bullish, a publicly traded company in the U.S., was the latest newcomer in the Bitcoin on balance sheets category. The digital assets exchange announced its first Bitcoin treasury buy of 24,000 BTC on August 13th. 

KindlyMD, a publicly traded company in the U.S., announced its first significant Bitcoin purchase on August 19th, involving 5,744 BTC. The company currently holds 5,765 BTC on its balance sheet. 

‍*Closing price data is from August 31st, 2025, at 10:50 CEST