The global crypto market cap jumped $500 billion to near $2.74 trillion in mid-August, its highest level since early May, after a U.S. Treasury bond buyback announcement and White House support for the sector. Bitcoin led the rally with a 22% weekly gain, while Zcash surged nearly 70% and XRP rose 51%.
Bitcoin narrows its yearly losses
A U.S. Treasury bond buyback announcement and a White House meeting reaffirming the Trump administration's support for the sector drove the crypto market cap up $500 billion to near $2.74 trillion, its highest level since early May. Bitcoin anchored the move, briefly dipping below $76,000 on Sunday before rebounding above $77,000.
The asset finished the week up 22% after nearly breaching $80,000 on Aug. 21. That surge pushed its market capitalization to $1.55 trillion. The rebound also narrowed bitcoin's year-to-date losses to roughly 12%. Bitcoin had faced a nearly 30% drawdown at the start of the month.
Zcash and XRP outpace the market
Zcash posted the week's top performance, surging nearly 70% to peak just above $873 after trading at $490 on Aug. 16. The rally pushed the privacy coin's market capitalization past $14.5 billion, nearly double that of main rival Monero.
XRP, meanwhile, dipped below $1 for the first time since mid-November 2024 before joining the broader recovery and surging near $1.70 early on Aug. 22. Despite easing back to trade above $1.50, the token maintained a 51% weekly gain, the top performance among major altcoins behind ZEC.
HYPE hits a record on Trump comments
HYPE capitalized on the broader momentum, vaulting to a record high of $82.43 on Saturday. The rally was fueled in part by comments from President Donald Trump advocating for Hyperliquid's expansion into the U.S. The move pushed HYPE's market capitalization toward $18 billion, for a token that opened the year trading at just $25.
Outside a few exceptions, including TRX, BNB, RAIN, XMR and LEO, most high-cap altcoins notched weekly gains above 20%. WLFI led the minor decliners with a 5% drop. BEAT and H suffered the market's deepest sell-offs, plunging 63% and 50% respectively.
Source: Bitcoin News
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