Share this article
Around the Crypto World in 15 Charts: CoinDesk Research's August Review
In 15 charts, the CoinDesk Monthly Review for August details BTC's performance, its relationship to fiat currencies and Ethereum’s growing congestion problem.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 9:51 a.m. Published Sep 2, 2020, 6:40 p.m.
Bitcoin had a lackluster August while Ethereum "gas" fees are soaring. In 15 charts, CoinDesk Research's Monthly Review for August looks at bitcoin performance compared to traditional assets, its relationship to the dollar and other fiat currencies, and at Ethereum’s increasing congestion.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Some of the key takeaways:
- BTC had a lackluster August in terms of price movements, underperforming most of the CoinDesk 20 as well as the S&P 500. However, so far this year BTC is up over 60% while the S&P 500 is up just over 8%.
- The correlation between BTC and the DXY dollar index is reaching new lows, at a time when bitcoin is increasingly becoming part of macro conversations both within and outside the industry.
- Currency movements affect performance: The declining dollar has recently given a boost to the performance of the BTC/USD pair, but in terms of year-to-date returns, BTC denominated in Korean won has fared better while BTC in euros has lagged.
- Ethereum’s congestion issues as evidenced by its soaring gas fees can be largely explained by the growth in use of tokens and applications, shown here in the number of transactions that invoke smart contracts.
- After strong growth in the first half of the year, the number of tether transactions on Ethereum has started to level off, while the number of tether transactions on the Tron blockchain is gathering steam.
For more insights and more charts, download our free report here.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Hut 8 stock surges 20% on Fluidstack AI data center deal
The bitcoin miner deepened its pivot into AI infrastructure with a $7 billion long term lease backed by Google.
What to know:
- Hut 8 (HUT) signed a 15 year, $7 billion lease with Fluidstack for 245 MW of IT capacity at its River Bend campus, with three 5 year renewal options lifting potential contract value to about $17.7 billion.
- Google is providing a financial backstop for the base lease term, while JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are expected to lead up to 85% project level financing.
- Hut 8 shares are up around 20% in pre-market trading.
Top Stories
