Crypto 18.08.2026: BTC around $64,000, market +2.6%

Global Crypto Market on 18th August: Bitcoin Recovers Above $64,000, Market Capitalisation Rises by 2.6%

On Tuesday, 18th August, the global cryptocurrency market showed a moderate recovery as investors continued to monitor the protracted stalemate in the Middle East conflict and anticipate the Federal Reserve's September decision. According to Fortune (18th August, 6.45 ET), Bitcoin traded around $64,135 (approximately +1.38% in 24 hours), while Yahoo Finance (18th August, 9.19 ET) reported it at around $64,080 after opening at around $64,488, which is approximately 2.7% above Monday's opening level. Ethereum remained around $1,895 (Yahoo Finance, 18th August), while the total market capitalisation, according to CoinGabbar, reached approximately $2.28 trillion (approximately +2.6% in 24 hours). The Fear and Greed Index, according to CoinGabbar, rose to 41 points ("fear") from 31 points the previous day, indicating a slightly improved, yet still cautious, sentiment.

Market Overview

Bitcoin traded within a narrow range around the $64,000 level on Tuesday, with various sources recording slightly different values depending on the time of measurement. According to Fortune (18th August, 6.45 ET), BTC was around $64,135 with a 24-hour increase of approximately $875 (approximately +1.38%), but Fortune also indicated that the year-on-year price was approximately 44.85% lower than a year ago (around $116,296). Yahoo Finance on the same day (9.19 ET) recorded BTC at around $64,080 after opening at around $64,488, with a weekly increase of approximately +0.9%, a monthly increase of approximately +0.9%, and a yearly decrease of approximately -45.1%; the all-time high ($128,198) was dated 6th October 2025. CoinGabbar's summary showed BTC at around $64,269 (approximately +1.8% in 24 hours) with a trading volume of approximately $21.16 billion and a market capitalisation of approximately $1.29 trillion; Fortune valued Bitcoin's capitalisation slightly higher at around $1.33 trillion. The differences are explained by varying measurement windows, but all sources indicated a slight positive trend.

Ethereum largely followed Bitcoin on Tuesday. According to Yahoo Finance (9.19 ET), ETH was around $1,895 after opening at around $1,912, which is approximately 2% above Monday's opening; the weekly figure was approximately +2.2%, monthly approximately +3.8%, and yearly approximately -57.3%. The all-time high ($4,953.73) was dated 24th August 2025. CoinGabbar on the same day recorded ETH at around $1,906 (approximately +0.7% in 24 hours) with a market capitalisation of approximately $230 billion. Ethereum's monthly performance (approximately +3.8%) surpassed Bitcoin's (approximately +0.9%), but its yearly loss was deeper than Bitcoin's, reflecting the greater volatility of the altcoin segment over a longer period.

In the altcoin segment, dynamics on 18th August were selective. According to CoinGabbar, Solana (SOL) traded around $75.73 (approximately +0.7% in 24 hours), while XRP, according to Fortune (18th August), was around $0.99, close to one dollar. The previous day (17th August), Forbes Advisor's summary, which serves as the closest context, showed SOL at around $75.52, BNB at around $604, XRP at around $1.00, and Hyperliquid (HYPE) at around $59.38 with a seven-day increase of approximately +7.69%, marking HYPE as one of the most significant relative gainers over the week. Among smaller capitalisation tokens, 24-hour movements on 18th August were sharply pronounced in both directions: according to CoinGabbar, the biggest gainers were GoPlus Security (GPS, approximately +47.6%), Starpower (STAR, approximately +44.3%), and FGRS (approximately +13.0%), while the biggest losers were Velvet (VELVET, approximately -44.5%), Cysic (CYS, approximately -36.4%), and SAFEbit (SAFE, approximately -30.5%). Bitcoin dominance, according to CoinGabbar on 18th August, was approximately 56.5%, and Ethereum dominance approximately 10.1%; for comparison, Forbes Advisor on 17th August recorded Bitcoin dominance at approximately 58.57%, with the difference largely explained by varying measurement methodologies and times.

What Influenced the Market

The main background factor of the day was geopolitics. Yahoo Finance's 18th August report described Tuesday's movement as "mixed" specifically in the context of the protracted stalemate in the Middle East (Iran) conflict. According to Yahoo Finance's calculation, since the escalation of the conflict in late February, Bitcoin has lost approximately 4.4% and Ethereum approximately 5.7%, while gold futures fell by approximately 14.7% over the same period. These figures suggest that risk assets showed moderate losses during the conflict, but not sharp panic, and that traditional "safe haven" demand was not uniform.

On the macro and monetary policy front, attention remained focused on the Federal Reserve's next move. As a continued context from the previous week: according to BTCC's 17th August summary, the US July Consumer Price Index (published around 12th August) was 3.4% year-on-year and core inflation 2.5%, in line with forecasts, and following this data, the market-estimated probability of a rate hike in September fell to approximately 38-40%, increasingly favouring rates remaining unchanged. BTCC also noted that long-term US government bond yields remained elevated - 10-year at around 4.68% and 30-year at around 5.27%. The prediction market Kalshi, referenced by Yahoo Finance, on 18th August estimated that Bitcoin would most likely be in the range of $65,000 to $69,999 by the end of the year, reflecting moderately cautious expectations from market participants.

Institutional flow data was contradictory. Yahoo Finance noted on 18th August that spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds attracted net inflows on Monday (17th August) after three consecutive days of outflows. Simultaneously, as a broader weekly context, BTCC reported that in the period from 10th to 14th August, US spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced approximately $389 million in net outflows, and Ethereum ETFs approximately $2.26 million in net outflows, indicating weakened institutional momentum in the previous week. Monday's return to inflows is therefore considered a possible turning point signal, whose sustainability remains to be confirmed.

In the regulatory sphere, the previously initiated theme continued: according to BTCC's summary, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed a planned public meeting to consider the so-called Reg Crypto proposal and the innovation exemption framework, meaning that discussions on token issuance compliance and digital asset regulation were again deferred. This is a continued context from previous days, not a new decision on 18th August.

Exchange and Industry Events

No large-scale exchange listings or regulatory actions by major platforms (Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Bybit) clearly dated to 18th August were confirmed in public sources for this report. On the industry's structural front, CoinGabbar's 18th August summary highlighted several project discontinuations as the day's notable events: payments project "Printr" announced a halt in operations due to funding difficulties, digital art platform "fxhash" ceased operations, and "Monad" concluded its MON liquidity program with minimal investor participation. These events fit into a broader trend where smaller projects face funding and liquidity pressures during a prolonged phase of price weakness and low activity.

The impact of Europe's MiCA regime on exchange geography and expectations for the US regulatory environment also remain as continued context, but these are news events from previous periods, not 18th August, so they are mentioned here only as background.

Security Incidents

No large-scale security incidents directly dated to 18th August were confirmed by public sources in this report. The closest documented context comes from incidents in the previous week: according to Crypto Times' 16th August summary, confirmed losses between 9th and 15th August exceeded $37 million. The largest single case was a phishing attack on 12th August, in which a "whale" wallet lost approximately $25.6 million through malicious token approvals; the same wallet had already lost approximately $24.2 million in September 2023. Additionally, Crypto Times mentioned the draining of Coinsbuy's hot wallet for approximately $7.9 million (9th August, with funds laundered via Monero, which the company covered from reserves within 24 hours) and the exploitation of the Harmony protocol (11th-12th August), where unauthorised token issuance led to approximately $3.2 million in realised losses and a 24-hour price drop of approximately 38.3% for the ONE token.

The broader 2026 picture, which we mention only as background, indicates the seriousness of industry security issues: according to data compiled by Crypto Times, in the first half of 2026, losses reached approximately $1.31 billion across 344 incidents, and by July, a total of approximately $1.65 billion; the Coldcard hardware wallet software incident exceeding $130 million stands out separately. These are contextual, not 18th August, figures.

Context and Outlook

To understand the broader context, several structural factors must be considered. The market has been in a state of low activity and cautious sentiment for several months; Bitcoin's year-on-year performance (approximately -45%) and Ethereum's (approximately -57%) underscore that both major assets remain significantly below their 2025 highs. At the same time, the moderate recovery on 18th August, the approximately 2.6% increase in market capitalisation, and the rise in the Fear and Greed Index from 31 to 41 points suggest that sentiment is slightly improving, although it remains in the "fear" zone.

In the near term, market attention is likely to focus on Federal Reserve rhetoric and expectations for the September meeting, the development of the Middle East conflict as a source of geopolitical risk, the sustainability of institutional ETF flows after Monday's return to inflows, and the SEC's regulatory decision schedule following the postponed meeting. Several observers, according to the aforementioned sources, indicate that while major assets trade in a narrow range, the sharp fluctuations of individual smaller capitalisation tokens (e.g., 18th August's double-digit movements in both directions) maintain elevated speculative risk. This article is an informational overview and should not be considered investment advice; always conduct your own research before making decisions.

Sources

• Fortune - "Current price of Bitcoin for August 18, 2026" (18.08.2026, ~6.45 ET): https://fortune.com/article/price-of-bitcoin-08-18-2026/
• Yahoo Finance - "Bitcoin and ethereum prices today, Tuesday, August 18, 2026: Crypto prices mixed as Iran stalemate continues" (18.08.2026, ~9.19 ET): https://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/investing/article/bitcoin-and-ethereum-prices-today-tuesday-august-18-2026-crypto-prices-mixed-as-iran-stalemate-continues-155702632.html
• CoinGabbar - "Crypto News Today August 18: BTC and ETH Gains, Altcoins Move Sharply" (18.08.2026): https://www.coingabbar.com/en/crypto-currency-news/crypto-news-today-august-18-bitcoin-ethereum-solana-price-gains
• Forbes Advisor - "Top 10 Cryptocurrencies" (17.08.2026): https://www.forbes.com/financial-services/top-10-cryptocurrencies-2/
• BTCC - "Crypto Weekly Report (August 17, 2026): CPI Meets Expectations, SEC Delays Crypto Meeting" (17.08.2026): https://www.btcc.com/en-CA/academy/strategy-analysis/crypto-weekly-report-2