Why Is Crypto Down Today? – August 22, 2025

Following a single day of price appreciation, the crypto market is down today again, with the majority of the top 100 coins turning red over the past 24 hours. Overall, the cryptocurrency market capitalization has decreased by 0.9%, now standing at $3.91 trillion. At the same time, the total crypto trading volume is at $117 billion.

At the time of writing, all top 10 coins per market capitalization have decreased over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell 0.7% and below $113,000, now standing at $112,960.

At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) is down by 0.2%, meaning it’s largely unchanged, now trading at $4,293.

Dogecoin (DOGE) decreased the most today. It’s down by 2.6% to the price of $0.2157.

It’s followed by XRP, BNB, and Solana (SOL), which are down 1.8% each.

As for the top 100 coins, OKB (OKB) appreciated the most for the second day in a row. It’s up by 23% to $234.

Gate (GT) is next, with a rise of 4.1%, currently changing hands at $18.63.

On the other hand, Official Trump (TRUMP) fell the most: 4% to $8.43.

Next up is Near Protocol (NEAR), with a drop of 2.8% to the price of $2.44.

Meanwhile, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes argued that Ethereum could hit $20,000. “I think ETH goes $10,000 to $20,000 before the end of the cycle,” he said. “Once it’s broken through, then you know there’s a gap of air to the upside.”

He also said that Solana would probably not surpass Ethereum in the bull run but that it would be a “bigger asset move.”

Arthur Hayes just admitted he bought back ETH because “the chart says it’s going higher.”

He sees Ethereum running up to $20K this cycle.

When asked $ETH vs $SOL?

He’s overweight $ETH pic.twitter.com/Yd3q1t0aCe

James Toledano, Chief Operating Officer at Unity Wallet, noted that the event risk is high ahead of the US Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s remarks at Jackson Hole today.

“It is important to note that prices in the U.S. appear to be rising at a very fast pace, while total inflation remains steady.” Per Toledano, “this could scupper any chances of a Fed rate cut – despite the pressure on Powell from President [Donald] Trump.”

Toledano continued:

“Right now, the markets appear to be treating the volatility as a healthy correction rather than a trend reversal, but many are bracing for choppier waters. All-in-all, I think we should expect continued volatility – positioning may remain defensive through the speech, followed by either renewed direction or status quo afterwards.”

Moreover, while ETFs saw million in outflows over the past few days, showing short-term selling pressure, “beneath the surface, institutional adoption is most definitely accelerating—whales are adding to positions, and banks are exploring Ethereum-based products,” Toledao says.

“Many investors seem to view current price levels, even down to $3.9K, as an attractive entry point, given the hopes of ETH passing $5K in the short term. While near-term volatility is likely, the long-term outlook remains bullish, with strong fundamentals and real-world use cases supporting the possibility of a push toward new highs,” he concludes.

According to Glassnode, several signals highlight elevated leverage, profit-taking, and speculative intensity. These, the analysts say, are signs of historically mature market phases. That said, given unavoidable idiosyncrasies, there is no guarantee that Bitcoin and the market in general will “conform to a fixed temporal blueprint.”

The report found that capital inflows into Bitcoin are showing signs of fatigue. The demand lessened even with the new ATH. “This slowing appetite has coincided with a surge in speculative positioning, as open interest across major altcoins briefly reached a record high of $60B before correcting with a -$2.5B decline.”

2- To assess