Bitcoin Surges 24% in August, Best Monthly Performance Since 2024
Bitcoin ended August with its best monthly performance since November 2024, rising 24% in value. This surge marked the cryptocurrency's first time reaching $81,000 in over three months and brought it closer to revisiting local highs.
The momentum faded by the final weekend of August following a speech by Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, causing prices to drop to around $76,877. However, at the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading above $78,000 despite rising expectations for a U.S. rate hike, which are currently putting pressure on risk assets.
A key indicator showing weakness in spot volumes remains near three-year lows, with figures from Binance and other major platforms averaging a decline of roughly 70% since October 2025. Despite this, CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost noted that the drop in activity has stopped accelerating, with Binance's volume being around $1.6 billion higher than in July.
Locally, a positive signal emerged from South Korea, where Bitcoin is trading about 1% above Binance on the country's largest exchange, Upbit. The 'kimchi premium' has persisted for a week, with Korean trader crypto sunmoon noting that this shift from negative to positive territory typically precedes a positive trend.
A shift in coins toward larger holders also occurred during August, with wallets holding 100 BTC or more increasing their holdings by roughly 60,000 BTC. This was accompanied by buying by large participants accelerating after Bitcoin broke out of the $62,000, $65,000 range on August 19.