On-Chain and Exchange Volumes for BTC, ETH Slide in August, Sept Likely to Repeat

The total adjusted on-chain volume for the leading two crypto assets decreased by 6.3% to $176 billion in August.

Bitcoin volumes fell by 6.7% and Ethereum by 5.7% for the month, according to research from The Block.

Furthermore, it is the fifth month of declines since March, and on-chain volumes are down 56% from the same month last year.

1/13 August summary 🧵

Most metrics corrected further.

Total adjusted on-chain volume decreased by 6.3% to $176B (BTC: -6.7%, ETH -5.7%): pic.twitter.com/qEgaJ1ErPf

— Lars (@lars0x) September 1, 2023

Bear Market Blues

Nevertheless, the adjusted on-chain volume of stablecoins increased by 6.8% to $520.9 billion, according to the research. However, this metric is down around 35% from March figures.

Issued stablecoin supply contracted by 2.2% to $115.1 billion in August. Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC) increased their market shares marginally.

Crypto revenues also declined, according to the data. Bitcoin miner revenue decreased by 6.8% to $805 million, while Ethereum staking revenue dropped by 7.5% to $130 million in August.

Monthly NFT marketplace volume on Ethereum declined by 8% to $391 million as secondary sales dwindled.

Also in retracement was centralized exchange spot volume which fell by 2.8% to $261.6 billion, the lowest volume since October 2020. Binance remains the market leader despite regulatory pressure, with a 73.4% share. Coinbase is second with 10.2%, followed by Kraken at 5.3%, according to The Block.

Crypto derivatives trading was also in decline for the month. Futures Open Interest, or the number of outstanding contracts yet to be settled, fell 14% for Bitcoin and 18% for Ethereum contracts. Moreover, BTC monthly futures volume decreased by 5.4% to $603 billion, and ETH futures monthly volume fell by 15.5% to $264 billion.

September is usually a quiet month for crypto, with more declines than gains in previous years.

However, crypto investor and Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano remained bullish. “Late-stage crypto crab markets are worse than the bear market for most people,” he said before adding:

“It’s the “what if there’s never another bull market?” phase of the crypto cycle and its where even multi-cyclers get shaken out and start to lose faith. Ironically, this is usually when the bull returns.”

Crypto Market Outlook

Crypto markets returned to their state of inactivity over the weekend, with total capitalization hovering around just below $1.1 trillion.

BTC is currently trading up 0.5% on the day at just under $26,000, following an intraday low of $25,800. Ethereum remains flat on the day at $1,638 at the time of writing.