Bitcoin had a lackluster August while Ethereum “gas” fees are soaring. In 15 charts, CoinDesk Research’s Monthly Review for August looks at bitcoin (BTC) performance compared to traditional assets, its relationship to the dollar and other fiat currencies, and at Ethereum’s increasing congestion.
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.
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