While most market participants were resting, the cryptocurrency industry continued to live its own life, demonstrating impressive momentum. The leading digital currency made a sharp surge, gaining more than 4% in a day. At the time of analysis, BTC was trading near the $80,895 mark, having managed to test the $81,800 level during the upward move. This is a confident recovery after a drop to $77,200, indicating the return of bullish sentiment.
Altcoins and capital inflows
A wave of positivity also swept over the altcoin market. Ethereum (ETH) rose by 4.33%, reaching $2,506. In the top 25 by market capitalization, there were virtually no "red" positions, except for Monero (XMR), which lost 2.09%. The growth leaders were Zcash (ZEC) with a gain of 15.62%, Uniswap (UNI) +9.99%, and Cardano (ADA) +6.79%. Among coins in the top hundred, Pons (PONS) stood out, soaring by 32.16%, as well as Dash (DASH), which added 16.02%. Filecoin (FIL) was among the laggards, falling by 5.74%.
Institutional interest remains a key driver. Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded a massive inflow of funds, amounting to $730.87 million in a single day. Ethereum funds attracted $141.39 million, while products on Solana and XRP brought in $6.40 million and $6.14 million, respectively. Such a significant capital inflow into bitcoin instruments suggests that major players view current levels as an attractive entry point.
Fear and liquidation index
Market sentiment has shifted into the extreme greed zone: the fear and greed index jumped to 74 points. Just a month ago, this indicator was at 27, signaling a radical change in market psychology. Such a sharp reversal in emotions often precedes increased volatility.
The explosive growth left no chance for bears. Over the course of a day, positions of 96,304 traders were liquidated for a total of $537.28 million. The vast majority came from short positions — $456.46 million, while longs lost only $80.82 million. The largest liquidation order was executed on Binance for the BTCUSDT pair and amounted to $5.26 million.
Industry news: Polymarket, Fidelity, and the IMF
The prediction market platform Polymarket has announced the launch of Polymarket Perps, offering perpetual contracts with leverage of up to 20x. Trading will be available outside the United States for cryptocurrencies, stocks, commodities, and other assets. This step marks the platform's evolution from simple event betting to full-fledged derivatives trading.
Fidelity analysts urge caution before concluding that the bear cycle is over. Despite the August rally, they highlight a number of factors that could reverse the market: exiting the low-volatility range, regulatory clarity, monetary policy, and the arrival of institutional players. The CLARITY bill and the Regulation Crypto Assets rules are still under discussion.
The International Monetary Fund confirmed that El Salvador has not used state funds to purchase bitcoin since June 27, 2025. All accumulated coins came from private donations, and the fund does not expect further reserve replenishment. This is an important clarification for assessing the country's real participation in the crypto market.
The Curve DAO community has approved the transfer of risk management for crvUSD and Llamalend to the yRisk team, consisting of developers of the Resupply protocol, which previously lost $9.6 million as a result of an attack. The decision was made almost unanimously — 536.9 million veCRV voted "in favor."
My view: The current surge in bitcoin looks impressive, but a greed index at 74 and massive short liquidations are classic signs of overheating in the short term. I advise not to give in to euphoria and to closely monitor BTC's ability to hold above $82,000. In case of failure, there is a high probability of a pullback to collect liquidity before the next surge.