This piece first appeared in First Mover, the daily briefing from CoinDesk that deciphers the latest ripples within crypto markets. Get it delivered straight to your mailbox every day by subscribing.
Market Snapshot
CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,968, climbing by +2.8%
Bitcoin (BTC): $61,253, a 3.0% uptick, currently valued at $111,495.39 per BTC
Ether (ETH): $2,638, edging up 2.0%
S&P 500: 5,620.85, inching a modest +0.4%
Gold: $2,541, rising +1.3%
Nikkei 225: 38,211.01, up by +0.68%
Headlines That Matter
After fluctuating between the $59,000 and $61,000 zones, Bitcoin gathered steam in the late European morning, rocketing close to $61,250 — up nearly 3% over the past 24 hours. Buzz from several media outlets late Wednesday suggests Robert Kennedy Jr. intends to bow out of the U.S. presidential race by week’s end, throwing his weight behind Donald Trump, who campaigns on a crypto-friendly platform. The likelihood of RFK Jr.’s withdrawal now sits near 94% on Polymarket, a sharp pivot from early-week sentiment. Riding along, the broader digital token sphere has inched up roughly 2.75% over the past day, as tracked by the CoinDesk 20 Index.
Crypto firms steered almost half of all corporate political donations during the 2024 election cycle, a Wednesday exposé from Public Citizen reveals. The watchdog’s analysis uncovers that around 48%—or $119 million—of total $248 million corporate spending hailed from players like Ripple and Coinbase. Most of these funds fueled pro-crypto super PACs such as Fairshake and aimed to derail initiatives from crypto skeptics. Roughly $108 million of the $203 million raised by Fairshake comes straight from crypto ventures, with the remainder sourced from affluent, influential backers like the Winklevoss twins and Brian Armstrong.
A year back, HashKey Capital predicted ether liquid-staking derivatives would balloon to $44 billion by August 2025, doubling their August 2023 stature. Now halfway there, the total value locked (TVL) in Ether LSDs stands at $36.25 billion, dominated by Lido’s 70% share, according to DeFiLlama data. Despite ETH prices treading water lately, staking demand remains robust. The validator queue has swelled to an unprecedented peak near 7,400, HashKey analysts reported to CoinDesk. Yet, annualized returns have hovered around 3.5% for four consecutive months, creating a paradox where validator interest surges, but staking rewards plateau.
Quick Crypto Facts
The CoinDesk 20 Index monitors the performance of the 20 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, offering a snapshot of the broader digital asset landscape. Bitcoin commands roughly 45% of the total crypto market capitalization, while Ethereum holds about 20%. The 2024 U.S. election marks the first cycle with significant crypto industry participation, underlining the sector’s growing political clout.
Chart Insights
- The visual tracks market prices of the top 500 coins by capitalization, benchmarked against their peaks and troughs from previous years, commencing in 2021.
- As of August 20, more than 100 tokens are trading beneath their 2021 bottom levels, 80 below the 2022 bear market lows, and 72 south of their 2023 floor.
- This trend signals investor capital is gravitating towards fresher, potentially higher-upside tokens, as noted by CCData.
– Omkar Godbole
Trending Reads
- Binance’s New Helm: No IPO Yet as Eyes Set on a Century-Long Crypto Quest
- Ex-FTX Officer Ryan Salame Alleges Government Walkback on Plea Deal, Court Filing Shows
- Senior Republican Holds on to Hope for U.S. Crypto Legislation Progress This Year
