CryptoQuant Quicktake

• Bitcoin recently returned to $80K, but this time the price recovery was accompanied by an expansion in Realized Cap, with the first bullish monthly candle of 2026 forming.
Written by Facundo Fama

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw about $202 million in net outflows on Aug. 28, ending a nine-day inflow streak that had brought in roughly $3.04 billion.
Why did money rush in first? Three factors likely mattered: improving liquidity expectations in the U.S., Bitcoin’s sharp price recovery, and a major short squeeze. CryptoQuant data also suggests ETF demand does not appear only at low prices. In some cases, inflows become stronger after Bitcoin has already risen, implying a feedback loop: price recovery attracts ETF demand, which can then reinforce the rally.
Who is buying? Recent 13F filings show participation from banks, hedge funds, investment advisers, sovereign wealth funds and university endowments. That does not mean every ETF buyer is outright bullish. Some institutions may hedge with CME futures or use ETF positions for arbitrage and market-making.
The Aug. 28 outflow was small compared with the prior $3.04 billion inflow. For now, it looks more like profit-taking and position adjustment than a clear exit by institutions.
The key question for September is whether those flows return. If ETF inflows resume while Bitcoin holds or reclaims $80,000, the case for a broader institutional allocation becomes much stronger.
Written by XWIN Japan

The Sharpe Ratio for XRP on Binance has shown significant improvement, rising in recent days and currently stabilizing at around 0.207, its highest level since August 2025. This improvement coincides with XRP’s price reaching approximately $1.40, indicating a recent improvement in risk-adjusted returns.
This reading is particularly significant when compared with the indicator’s movement over the past few months. For most of this period, the Sharpe Ratio remained near negative or neutral levels, registering notable declines during XRP’s downward trend. However, the recent rise reflects a positive shift in the relationship between returns and volatility.
The market is currently offering XRP investors better returns relative to the level of risk they are taking compared with most of the period since August 2025. Furthermore, the data shows that the indicator’s rapid rise coincided with the improvement in XRP’s price, suggesting that the recent surge was not merely an isolated price movement but was also accompanied by an improvement in risk-adjusted returns.
However, the Sharpe Ratio reaching its highest level since August 2025 does not guarantee a sustained upward trend. The indicator could quickly reverse if volatility increases or the price experiences a sharp correction. Therefore, monitoring trading volume, open interest, and funding rates will be crucial in determining whether the current improvement marks the beginning of a more sustainable trend for XRP.
Written by Arab Chain

As observed in the recent market data accompanying the chart(image), a notably unusual and sharp decline in the spot stablecoin reserve appears to have coincided with the latest local top in Bitcoin's price. Given that stablecoin reserves on exchanges typically represent available "dry powder" or accumulating buying power, this sudden depletion could suggest a temporary reduction in immediate market demand. While it remains to be seen whether this capital was actively deployed into assets during the recent rally or simply moved off-exchange for custody, such a pronounced divergence from typical accumulation patterns might warrant cautious observation; it could indicate a potential cooling of short-term upward momentum rather than a definitive market reversal, highlighting the need to closely monitor how liquidity conditions evolve.
Written by nino

Bitcoin recovered sharply in late August and briefly approached $80,000, but exchange data points to a potential source of resistance.
CryptoQuant data shows Binance’s Bitcoin reserves rising to roughly 687,000 BTC, the highest level seen in 2026. Earlier in the year, reserves had fallen to around 617,000 BTC in late April before reversing higher, with the increase accelerating through August.
The key point is that reserves rose while Bitcoin climbed from the $60,000s toward $80,000. When more BTC moves onto an exchange during a price rebound, it can signal that holders are preparing to take profits, hedge exposure, or use coins as collateral.
That does not mean 687,000 BTC is about to be sold. Exchange wallet reorganizations, custody transfers, market-making activity, and derivatives collateral can also affect the figure.
Still, a yearly high in Binance reserves near major resistance is a warning sign. The next move above $80,000 will likely depend on whether spot and ETF demand can absorb the additional supply potentially available to the market.
Written by XWIN Japan

Observation. XRP traded at $1.396 on August 29 — roughly 39% above the $1.00 level it held through August 18, but about 8% below the $1.520 high of August 23. Binance open interest peaked at $558M on that same session and has since eased to $483M.
Context. The move does not appear to have been funded by exchange supply movement. Binance inflow averaged 136,319 XRP over the last seven days and outflow 298,660 XRP — approximately 2% and 4% of their respective six-month means (7.83M / 7.54M). Deposit addresses fell to 45 (-91% vs the quarterly baseline). The Binance reserve itself is effectively unchanged at $2.618B (+0.04% WoW).
Comparison. Derivatives carried the repricing instead. Funding averaged 0.006, well above its quarterly baseline, and the estimated leverage ratio reached 0.193 against a six-month mean of 0.163 and a maximum of 0.213. Long liquidations averaged $4.34M (+222% WoW), including a $25.7M session on August 22 — the largest of the six-month window, on a day price closed higher. Rising price alongside rising long liquidations generally points to crowded positioning being cleared inside the trend rather than against it.
One on-chain series moves separately: total transactions rose to 2.93M daily (+97% vs quarterly), near the six-month high, while transfers toward the exchange collapsed. Activity expanded without routing to sale venues. NVT climbed 44% WoW.
What this may set up. Funding has already cooled from 0.010 to 0.002 across three sessions and OI is down 13% from its peak — leverage releasing while spot supply stays off the exchange. Historically, this configuration has preceded either a base-building phase once positioning normalizes, or a faster retracement should reserves begin rising.
Written by CryptoOnchain

Ethereum is holding near $2,500 after reaching its highest price since February, even as the pace of open-interest expansion on two major derivatives exchanges has cooled sharply.
7-Day Open Interest Change shows that the combined increase on Binance and Bybit fell from approximately $1.12 billion on August 22 to just $102 million by August 30 — a 90.9% slowdown.
On Binance, the seven-day change dropped from +$843 million to +$94 million, a decline of nearly 89%.
Bybit showed an even sharper move, falling from +$277 million to only +$8 million, or roughly 97%.
The distinction is important: these figures measure the change in open interest over seven days, not total outstanding open interest. The data therefore indicate that the rapid expansion in derivatives positioning that accompanied ETH’s move above $2,500 has largely faded.
Ethereum has retained much of its recent advance even as the seven-day open-interest change on Binance and Bybit contracted sharply, a shift consistent with derivatives deleveraging and funding rates moving back toward neutral territory.
Gate.io was a notable exception to the derivatives cooldown, with its seven-day OI change rising to approximately +$352 million on August 30, showing that the shift has not been uniform across every exchange.
At the same time, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded about $1.51 billion in net inflows across 10 consecutive positive trading sessions from August 17 through August 28, according to Farside Investors.
Overall, Ethereum is ending August near a multi-month price high while the use of elevated leverage on Binance and Bybit has declined sharply from the levels seen during the initial move above $2,500.
Written by Amr Taha

As Bitcoin tests the critical $80,000 resistance level, high-volume whale inflows into Binance are drawing significant attention.
During periods of sharp market volatility, whale activity tends to surge. However, transferred Bitcoin should not immediately be viewed as incoming sell pressure; these movements often serve various strategic purposes.
In fact, throughout this recent rally, Binance whale inflows have risen from $3.47B to $5.5B.
What Do These Inflows Signal?
The continued rise in Binance whale inflows around the $80K level points toward new positioning being established in the coming weeks. While Bitcoin may trade in a volatile, range-bound consolidation phase for a period, these transferred funds are likely to be used as margin (collateral) to build larger strategic positions.
In Summary:
Bitcoin’s ongoing test of the $80,000 level combined with potential short-term sideways volatility creates an environment for market participants to add or close positions. The increase in Binance whale inflows indicates that major players are expanding their collateral base to construct higher-volume positions moving forward.
Written by BorisD

XRP revisited the $1.50 area on August 22, but its Binance Spot-to-Futures Volume Ratio remained unusually low, ending August 29 at 15%, only four percentage points above the August 16 low of 11%.
The indicator compares XRP spot trading volume with futures volume on Binance.
A lower reading means futures turnover is larger relative to spot activity.
At a 15% ratio, futures volume is roughly 6.7 times spot volume, although the metric alone does not indicate whether the positioning is bullish or bearish.
The clearest divergence appears against May.
On May 14, XRP traded near $1.45 while the ratio reached 41.9%.
XRP recently returned to a slightly higher price area near $1.50, yet the latest ratio is about 64% lower.
In other words, XRP has revisited a comparable price zone under a substantially different spot-versus-futures trading mix.
The historical contrast is also notable.
The May ratio spike to 41.9% was followed by an XRP drawdown of roughly 35%.
A similar reading appeared on January 19, when the ratio reached around 39% with XRP near $2, before a subsequent decline of about 50%.
What stands out today is precisely the difference: previous visits to elevated XRP price levels coincided with Binance spot-to-futures ratios near 40%, whereas the current reading remains close to its recent low at just 15%.
The data therefore point to a markedly different Binance trading structure from the January and May episodes — a similar price area, but with the spot-to-futures ratio roughly 64% below its May level.
Written by Amr Taha

During the month of August, BTC delivered a performance exceeding 30%, yet trading volumes across various exchanges continue to show a certain weakness, in line with the trend seen in July.
These volumes are holding at levels not seen since September 2023, meaning 3 years, a notable gap between price performance and underlying market activity.
Comparing with October 2025 volumes, Bitcoin's market top, the numbers speak for themselves. Binance retains the highest spot trading volumes, but these dropped from $198B to $44B. Worth noting, however, that this figure is $1.6B higher than July's, a first sign of stabilization.
On Gate, the decline was just as striking, falling from $53.4B to $14B, and from $41.2B to $17.4B on Bybit.
These represent average declines of around 70% across these platforms.
That said, August appears to have brought a form of stability to volumes, which remained fairly close to July's levels. This could signal that investor disinterest reached an extreme point this summer, especially as Bitcoin attempts to relaunch a positive momentum.
Should volumes come to accompany this price increase, it would mark a strong signal in favor of the launch of a new bullish cycle for Bitcoin.
Written by Darkfost

• The $60K level has been a key reference since 2021.
• On-chain data downloaded from CryptoQuant.
Written by Facundo Fama

Ethereum recently reclaimed the $2,400 level after a long stretch without meaningful upside, only to pull back almost immediately. Many traders are now asking whether this marks a return to the downtrend. Looking at funding rate data, the answer appears to be no — at least not yet.
Start with the historical pattern. Looking at Ethereum funding rates across all exchanges since 2020, every major crash shared a common precursor: extreme funding rate spikes. In early-to-mid 2021, rates surged above 0.2 as long positions became dangerously crowded. In 2022 and 2023, the opposite extreme appeared — sharp plunges to -0.05 and even -0.1, reflecting violent liquidation cascades. Both patterns marked periods where the market had become structurally unbalanced, and both were followed by significant corrections.
The current chart tells a different story. Funding rates remain in a stable, moderate green range with no extreme spike in either direction. This suggests the market hasn't built up the kind of leveraged long exposure that historically preceded sharp liquidation-driven selloffs. Rather than a structural warning sign, the recent pullback looks more like a natural pause after a price rally.
To be fair, this reading isn't without risk. Funding rate is a lagging metric, and it can shift quickly if positioning changes fast. Should funding rates spike sharply in the coming days, the risk calculus would change. It's also worth cross-checking exchange-level funding divergence and derivatives-to-spot volume ratios before drawing firm conclusions.
Taken together, the current Ethereum pullback lacks the funding rate overheating pattern seen before past major crashes, so it looks more like short-term consolidation than the start of a deeper decline.
This reflects my own views. Not financial advice.
Written by Rich_dady

Stablecoins have maintained a net outflow trend since the 8th May.
At the same time, $BTC showed a bearish trend.
Recently, as the scale of stablecoin net outflows decreased, $BTC rebounded.
And now, the inflow of stablecoins into exchanges has shifted to an increasing trend.
Generally, $BTC showed significant rise when stablecoin net inflow state. And for the first time in three months, it has returned to a net inflow state.
A signal of a trend reversal has appeared. If the net inflow of stablecoins continues, the upward trend of $BTC will also continue.
Written by CW8900

Financial Times reports that the combined market capitalization of 50 major Bitcoin treasury companies has fallen from about $150 billion in July 2025 to roughly $67 billion in August 2026, wiping out more than $80 billion in value.
The message is clear: simply holding Bitcoin is no longer enough to justify a premium valuation.
The first wave of DAT companies benefited from a powerful cycle—higher share prices enabled new fundraising, which funded more BTC purchases and reinforced investor expectations. But as Bitcoin weakened and equity premiums compressed, that flywheel slowed.
The market is now shifting from “How much BTC do you own?” to “How efficiently do you manage digital capital?”
Future DAT leaders will need to focus on BTC per share, disciplined financing, balance-sheet resilience, governance, transparency, and integration with their core business. Investors also have alternatives such as spot Bitcoin ETFs, so every DAT company must answer a tougher question: why should investors buy your stock instead of Bitcoin itself?
This is not the end of the DAT model. It is the end of the era when buying BTC alone was enough to lift a company’s valuation.
Written by XWIN Japan

Bitcoin is currently engaged in a critical struggle right below the psychological 80,000$ resistance. Although the price occasionally spikes above the 80K mark, it has failed to establish a solid footing or hold above that level.
Amid this price consolidation, significant shifts are taking place in perpetual CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta) metrics across the derivatives market.
Current Perpetual CVD Landscape Across Exchanges
* Binance CVD: Retracted to $12.6B
* Bybit CVD: Dropped to -$575M
* OKX CVD: Declined to -$125M
* Deribit CVD: Sitting at $425M
Among these platforms, Binance exerts the most direct and potent influence on overall market direction due to its multi-billion-dollar trading volumes.
Taker Selling and Market Dynamics
The downward trajectory across derivatives CVDs indicates that market takers are aggressively jumping into short positions, while existing long positions are being closed out at market prices, compounding the selling pressure. However, this accumulation of shorts in the derivatives market suggests that fresh fuel is actively being generated for a potential squeeze in the coming days.
Correction Scenarios and Outlook
* 72K – 74K Pullback Zone: Should Bitcoin enter a corrective phase down to the 72,000$ – 74,000$ range, CVD metrics are likely to decline even more aggressively.
* Potential Sharp Spike (Upward Reaction): If price finds support and rebounds sharply from the 72K–74K support band, the resulting liquidation of short positions could trigger a sudden, steep spike upward in CVD.
* Major Seller Resistance Above 85K: The primary heavy sellers are expected to step into the market above 85.000$. For a breakout beyond this zone to be sustained, CVD strength would need to be at its peak.
Written by BorisD

1) This was the last bearish brick formed before the trend reversed during 2023.
2) At the current $57K low, a potential bottom brick formed at the same level where previous lows formed following Bitcoin’s fourth halving.
3) For the first time in 2026, two consecutive bullish bricks formed.
Written by Facundo Fama

Binance spot BTC volume in 2026 remains clearly below the most active years when measured in both BTC and USD terms. In BTC terms, 2022 finished near 53.1M BTC, 2023 near 46.7M BTC, and 2024 around 32.6M BTC, while 2026 is still running at a much slower pace. In USD terms, the contrast is also visible, with 2024 ending near $2.1T and 2025 near $1.7T, both well above the current 2026 cumulative total.
The daily share chart reinforces the same message. So far, 2026 has captured only a small portion of the historical daily volume mix, showing that spot participation has not yet broadened in the same way seen during stronger expansion phases.
Still, this should not be interpreted as a bearish signal by itself. Lower spot volume can also mean the market is not yet in a euphoric stage. In other words, price can remain resilient without the kind of overheated spot activity that usually appears closer to speculative extremes.
One important nuance is that BTC denominated and USD denominated volume tell different stories. 2022 led in BTC volume, likely helped by lower prices and heavier coin turnover, while 2024 dominated in USD volume because higher prices boosted the notional value traded. This is why spot volume should always be read in context, not in isolation.
For now, Binance spot activity suggests a market that is active, but still selective. Participation is present, yet it is not broad or explosive. If spot volume starts to recover from here, that would be a constructive signal, pointing to stronger organic demand and a healthier market structure.
Written by joaowedson

1) This was the last bearish brick formed before the trend reversed during 2023.
2) At the current $57K low, a potential bottom brick formed at the same level where previous lows formed during Bitcoin’s fourth halving.
3) For the first time in 2026, two consecutive bullish bricks formed.
Written by Facundo Fama

Bitcoin is showing an important shift beneath the surface: U.S. spot demand may be returning.
The Coinbase Premium Index, which compares Bitcoin prices on Coinbase with Binance, has turned positive after spending roughly three months in negative territory. Because Coinbase is a major venue for U.S. investors and institutions, a positive premium is often interpreted as stronger U.S. buying pressure.
CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju highlighted the move, writing: “BTC: Coinbase Premium turned positive, indicating bullish U.S. institutional sentiment.”
The chart shows the premium remaining mostly negative from May through mid-August. But in late August, as BTC climbed back toward $80,000, the premium finally crossed above zero.
This matters because the rally may be shifting from one driven mainly by short covering and offshore demand toward one supported by U.S. spot buyers.
Still, one positive reading is not enough. The key question is whether the Coinbase Premium can stay above zero while Bitcoin tests $80,000. If it does, the case for a more durable bullish trend would strengthen.
Written by XWIN Japan

Bitcoin has rebounded sharply toward $80,000, but Binance data shows a potential risk building beneath the surface.
CryptoQuant’s Exchange Stablecoins Ratio compares Bitcoin reserves on an exchange with its stablecoin reserves. A rising ratio generally means more BTC is available relative to stablecoins, suggesting that immediate buying power is weakening while potential sell-side supply is increasing.
On Binance, the ratio has climbed from around 0.0000126 in April to roughly 0.0000159, near its highest level of 2026. The rise has continued even as Bitcoin recovered from around $60,000 to nearly $80,000.
This does not mean Bitcoin must fall. However, it suggests the current rally is facing a less favorable liquidity structure on Binance.
If stablecoin reserves increase and the ratio starts falling, it would indicate stronger potential buying power. For now, the elevated ratio is a signal that Bitcoin may need continued ETF and spot demand to absorb available supply and sustain a breakout above $80,000.
Written by XWIN Japan