Crypto 23.08.2026: BTC at $77,010, Market Cools Down

Global Crypto Market on 23rd August: Market Takes a Breather After Record Week, Bitcoin Around $77,000

On Sunday, 23rd August, the global cryptocurrency market entered a consolidation or 'breather' phase after the previous week's sharp rally. According to Benzinga's summary on the evening of 23rd August (21:57 ET), Bitcoin traded around $77,010 (approx. -0.92% in 24 hours), Ethereum around $2,429.92 (approx. -1.35%), XRP around $1.47 (-3.51%), Solana around $93.89 (-1.58%), and Dogecoin around $0.0910 (-2.58%). The total market capitalisation remained around $2.63 trillion (approx. +0.18% in 24 hours), but liquidations - contrary to the beginning of the week - were once again dominated by long positions for the first time. The movement was characterised by thin weekend liquidity and a lack of new macro impulses after the density of events in the previous week. This article is a compilation of facts and an analysis of causes, not investment advice.

Market Overview

After a record-breaking week, in which Bitcoin approached the $78,000 mark, Sunday, 23rd August, passed without a clear direction. According to Benzinga's data on 23rd August (measured at 21:57 ET), BTC traded around $77,010 with an approximate 0.92% drop in 24 hours. An independent Pickaxe summary on 23rd August recorded a very similar level - approximately $77,210 (approx. -1.0%) - and a Bitcoin market capitalisation of around $1.55 trillion. The small differences are explained by the time of measurement, not by contradictions. The intraday amplitude was wide: Intellectia's technical analysis on 23rd August also mentioned lower levels around $75,000, describing them as the 'highest valuation since May 2026' and noting that Bitcoin rose by approximately 22% during the week and surpassed $72,000 for the first time since early June.

Ethereum fell slightly faster than the leading asset on Sunday. According to Benzinga, ETH traded around $2,429.92 (approx. -1.35%), while Pickaxe recorded around $2,426.24 with a more pronounced drop of approximately 3.3% - a difference reflecting different measurement windows in low liquidity weekend conditions. This is a significant turnaround compared to the previous day, when Ethereum outperformed Bitcoin; on Sunday, relative strength returned to the leading asset.

In the altcoin segment, movement was predominantly downwards and moderate. According to Benzinga's data on 23rd August, XRP was among the weakest of the large assets with an approximate 3.51% drop to $1.47 - in contrast to the previous day's double-digit rise. Solana traded around $93.89 (Benzinga approx. -1.58%; Pickaxe recorded around $94.17 with a small increase), and Dogecoin around $0.0910 (-2.58%). Overall, Sunday's picture indicates widespread but shallow profit-taking after a week of gains, rather than a new downward trend. Bitcoin dominance, which can be roughly derived from the published capitalisations (approx. $1.55 trillion versus approx. $2.63 trillion in the total market), was around 59% on Sunday - slightly higher than at the beginning of the week, consistent with altcoins falling faster than Bitcoin.

What Influenced the Market

Sunday's movement was primarily determined not by new events, but by the exhaustion of the previous week's impulses and market structure. According to Pickaxe's summary on 23rd August, market sentiment was 'mixed', and thin weekend liquidity traditionally amplifies price fluctuations in both directions. A significant structural nuance was the change in the nature of liquidations: according to Benzinga, positions totalling almost $400 million were liquidated in the last 24 hours, of which approximately $220 million were long positions (betting on price increases). This is in contrast to 19th August, when forced closures were dominated by short positions and created a self-reinforcing rally; on Sunday, the pressure for the first time turned against overly optimistically positioned market participants, which is a typical sign after a sharp rise.

The fundamental background remained under the influence of the previous week's events, but without new data over the weekend. As dated context, the US Treasury's announcement on 19th August to at least double bond buyback operations (from approx. $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation, effective from 9th September) remains, as does the political support on 20th August for the so-called CLARITY Act. These factors were the main drivers of the week's rally, but on Sunday they no longer acted as new catalysts. As exchange-traded funds (ETFs) do not trade on weekends, there was no new institutional flow news on 23rd August; the relevant flow context refers to the previous working week, when spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded daily inflows of several hundred million dollars.

Analysts' assessments on Sunday were cautiously constructive. According to Benzinga's summary, market commentator Michaël van de Poppe predicted a 'slight dip' for Bitcoin on Sunday evening, followed by a move to test the $82,700 mark, indicating the $74,000 area as a potential buying level, while for Ethereum, he mentioned $2,200 as a possible entry point in case of lower level tests. According to Pickaxe, broader institutional rhetoric was divided: Ray Dalio reportedly encouraged building a Bitcoin position against the backdrop of debt problems, while the head of Bitget predicted that Bitcoin could remain in its current ranges by the end of the year. Such assessments reflect opinions, not confirmed facts, and are mentioned here only for contextual illustration.

Exchange and Industry Events

The situation of the BitMart exchange was a focus of industry attention during this period. According to a CoinDesk report on 22nd August, BitMart, less than four weeks after announcing a complete shutdown, is changing course and evaluating a restructuring that would combine payouts to creditors with the gradual resumption of separate operations. Initially, on 26th July, BitMart announced its closure, suspending new registrations, deposits, and acceptance of trading orders; the trading end date was set for 26th August. Under the new plan, the platform has reportedly engaged the law firm White & Case for restructuring matters, promising a detailed roadmap by 9th September, and postponing the termination of operations to 31st January 2027, while maintaining withdrawal options with enhanced compliance requirements. The financial impact of the event was already felt: according to CoinDesk, the exchange's BMX token fell by approximately 58% within 24 hours of the July announcement, with the annual loss reaching approximately 83%.

Additionally, Pickaxe's summary on 23rd August mentioned increased regulatory attention to prediction markets in several US states, as well as discussions about the integration of stablecoin payments on platforms, including X, as current topics. We note these news items as topics mentioned by the source, not as fully dated individual events. At the level of major exchanges (Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Bybit), no new large-scale incidents or regulatory actions were confirmed in public sources on Sunday; the weekend industry flow was calm.

Security Incidents

On Sunday, 23rd August, no new, clearly dated large-scale security incidents were confirmed by public sources. Pickaxe's summary generally mentioned 'security incidents affecting bridge services', but without specific numbers, names, or a precise date, so we do not include it as a confirmed fact. As a recent, precisely dated event in the industry's security background, the Maya Protocol (MAYAChain) attack on 18th August remains, when approximately 48.87 million CACAO tokens were withdrawn using a chain of six errors in a single transaction, with direct losses reaching approximately $1.7 million and the CACAO price collapsing by approximately 88.7%. As a broader structural context, the exploitation of the Coinkite Coldcard hardware wallet in early August also remains, the scale of which, according to TRM Labs, was estimated at approximately $116 million. Both incidents are mentioned only as background, as they are not directly attributable to the review day of 23rd August.

Context and Outlook

Sunday's breather is worth viewing on a weekly scale. After the previous week's rally, in which Bitcoin, according to Intellectia, rose by approximately 22% and surpassed $72,000 for the first time since early June, a small amount of profit-taking is a typical market reaction. From a technical perspective, Intellectia on 23rd August mentioned the area from approximately $76,159 to $80,000 as the nearest resistance levels, and approximately $70,000, $65,416, and $58,300 as support levels. Bitcoin's historical high (approx. $126,198) is dated 6th October 2025, so despite a strong week, the asset is still trading significantly below its record.

In the near term, market attention is likely to focus on several factors. Firstly, whether the week's rally will continue or turn into a deeper correction when full working week liquidity resumes on Monday - thin weekend trading rarely provides a sustained directional signal. Secondly, on the resumption of institutional ETF flows during the working week, which will show whether demand for week-long records persists. Thirdly, on the actual start of the US Treasury's bond buyback programme on 9th September and the legislative progress of the CLARITY Act. Several observers note that after a sharp, largely liquidation-driven rally, the market can be sensitive to rapid corrections if positioning becomes one-sided; the dominance of long position liquidations on Sunday is the first such warning sign. This article is an informative overview and should not be considered investment advice; always conduct your own research before making decisions.

Sources

• Benzinga - "Bitcoin, Ethereum Gain, XRP, Dogecoin Slide as Crypto Market Takes a Breather" (23.08.2026, 21:57 ET): https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/26/08/61373914/bitcoin-ethereum-xrp-dogecoin-crypto-market-dip-new-highs
• Pickaxe - "Crypto Markets Navigate Volatility on August 23, 2026" (23.08.2026): https://www.pickaxe.io/resources/news/crypto-markets-navigate-volatility-on-august-23-2026
• Intellectia - "Bitcoin Price Analysis August 23 2026: BTC Rally to $75K" (23.08.2026): https://intellectia.ai/blog/bitcoin-price-analysis-august-23-2026
• CoinDesk - "Crypto exchange BitMart weighs partial restart and creditor payouts weeks after announcing shutdown" (22.08.2026): https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/08/22/crypto-exchange-bitmart-weighs-partial-restart-and-creditor-payouts-weeks-after-announcing-shutdown
• shattered.io - "Maya Protocol Hack Drains $1.7M, CACAO Crashes 88%" (18.08.2026): https://shattered.io/maya-protocol-hack-cacao-crash-2026/