By Hououin Kyouma 2 September 2021 | 1:00 am

Mid-Cap Altcoins Crushed Bitcoin And Ethereum In August

Data shows mid-cap altcoins have crushed Bitcoin and Ethereum in the month of August as their returns reach almost 60%.

Mid-Cap Altcoin Index Ahead of Bitcoin And Ethereum

As per the latest report from Arcane Research, the cryptocurrency market has seen a great month overall as indexes retain most of their gains till the monthly close.

The great month is despite the boring last week where many coins have produced flat numbers. Bitcoin, however, has been fairly quiet in the month, and altcoins have surely taken advantage of the fact.

Here is a table that shows the weekly percentage change of the total market capitalization of the major cryptocurrencies:

The total market capitalization of the various cryptos | Source: The Arcane Research Weekly Update - Week 34

As the table shows, not only Bitcoin (down 0.26%) and Ethereum (up 0.29%), but most of the crypto market published similar low percentage changes in the last week of August.

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Now, here is a chart that reveals how the market capitalization of various indexes has changed in the past month:

Mid-cap altcoins seem to be leading in monthly performance | Source: The Arcane Research Weekly Update - Week 34

On examining the graph, it becomes apparent that mid-cap cryptocurrencies started August strong, and surpassed all other indexes by the middle of the month. These coins came out first in the market as their returns finished at about 59% at the monthly close.

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The large-cap altcoins are up 33% while the small-cap cryptos are up around 36%. Therefore, the mid-cap index is almost double the second highest in the chart.

Bitcoin’s returns are about 17% as the crypto continues its recovery that started in the last week of July.

BTC And ETH Prices

At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s price floats around $47.5k, down 2% in the last 7 days. Over the past month, the cryptocurrency has gained 19%.

The below chart shows the trends in the price of the coin over the past three months:

BTC's price continues to go down | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView

Bitcoin’s downtrend looks worrying as its trading volume has also dipped in the past week. It’s unclear when the trend might change, but if the coin has to retest $50k, some trading activity will be needed.

At the same time, Ethereum’s price is around $3.5k. The coin is up 11% in the last 7 days, and its monthly gains are about 35%.

Here is a chart for ETH’s price over the past three months:

ETH shoots straight up | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView

Ethereum on the other hand looks to be quite bullish as the crypto has started on a sharp uptrend. Though, it remains to be seen how long the coin can retain the momentum.