News from two officials ignited movements in both the stock and crypto markets. Bitcoin rose 1% to $64,176 on Bitstamp, marking a daily high for the month of August. This rise occurred alongside the S&P 500 index surging to a new record of 7,713, pushing its market valuation past the $70 trillion mark for the first time.
Green Signal from the Strait of Hormuz
The primary catalyst for this movement came from prospects of reopening a global energy transit route. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the Strait of Hormuz could potentially reopen “today or tomorrow” for oil tanker traffic. This statement reinforced remarks by President Trump the previous day, who indicated that the opening of the waterway could happen “as early as tomorrow.”
The reaction in the commodities market was immediate. WTI and Brent crude oil prices fell 4.8% and 4.6% respectively, hitting their lowest levels since July 13. This drop in oil prices also fueled optimism about declining inflation in the future. According to CME FedWatch data, market participants price in a 56.7% chance for the central bank to raise interest rates by 0.25% at the upcoming September meeting.
Bloomberg strategists assess that the future direction of the market will be more sensitive to daily metric updates. They noted that limited guidance from Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh means that upcoming economic data, oil price fluctuations, and bond market movements will have a far greater impact than before.
155,000 Coins Held, Not Sold
Amid the focus on interest rate and oil dynamics, Bitcoin on-chain metrics show a strengthening ownership pattern. On the hourly timeframe, Bitcoin’s price movement is being held back by the 21-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at the $64,388 level. However, its lower price limit is also protected by the 50-day SMA, which is fully functioning as support.
Analytics data from CryptoQuant shows that the correction hitting the market is more of a supply absorption rather than mass capitulation. There is strong accumulation right in the $62,000 to $65,000 range. Currently, as much as 0.7% of the total circulating Bitcoin supply - equivalent to 155,000 coins - is held by investors whose cost basis is in that price range. This group is holding their coins instead of panic selling them to the open market.
Leaving Exchanges for the Staking Space
Similar coin withdrawal activity is also occurring on the Ethereum side. On-chain tracking data from the @lookonchain account on X shows the maneuver of a whale entity moving its holdings. This wallet withdrew 19,000 ETH worth $35.44 million from Gemini to be placed directly into a staking protocol.
This withdrawal step complements a maneuver that has been ongoing since the beginning of the month. In the past three weeks, the same wallet has moved 112,000 ETH - worth $208 million - out of circulation on the Gemini exchange. As hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto are locked up to earn passive yield, this indicates that major players prefer hoarding assets and ignoring short-term macro drama.
Reported from Cointelegraph.
Read also: How to Read Candlesticks for Beginners
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.