The crypto market staged a dramatic comeback this week, surging from $3.86 trillion to nearly $4.1 trillion in just three days.
Listen to article WRITTEN BY 
Terence Zimwara 
ETH and BNB Lead the Charge
The crypto economy ended another eventful week on a high note, with the total market capitalization narrowly missing the $4.1 trillion mark. This represented a dramatic turnaround from just three days prior, when a broad sell-off led by bitcoin ( BTC) and other major altcoins caused the market cap to plummet to $3.86 trillion. The markets fortunes changed, however, when U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powells Jackson Hole speech sparked a powerful rally, with altcoins like ethereum ( ETH) and BNB posting significant gains immediately after his remarks.
ETH, it would appear, was the biggest beneficiary of Powells comments on interest rates as it surged past the $4,800 mark with ease. After it tumbled to $4,080 on Aug. 20, ETH recovered to trade around $4,200 before its brutal breakout on Aug. 22 saw it set a new all-time high (ATH) of $4,890.
This rally later ultimately fizzled out, and the number two digital asset was trading just above $4,700 at the time of writing (Aug. 23, 2:00 p.m. EST). By finally breaching the ATH set in 2021, ETH joins BTC as well as other altcoins like XRP and BNB, which had already hit new highs in 2025.
Meanwhile, BNB was another beneficiary of the bullish sentiment that followed Powells speech, as it climbed to $899.77, another ATH. Since Aug. 3, when it fell below $740, BNB is up by approximately 20%, making it one of the best-performing altcoins this month. However, unlike ETH which shed most of its gains, BNB looked poised to test the $900 mark while its proponents project it will reach the $1,000 mark soon.
Overall, many altcoins surged following Powells speech, with several registering double-digit gains in just 24 hours. However, LINK, one of the few standouts when the rest of the altcoins saw red, had by far the biggest gain over seven days for any high-cap altcoin at 18.5%. It was followed by AVAX with 8.9% and SOL with 8.4%.
On the losing side were HYPE, which closed the period 7% lower, while XLM and XRP were down by 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively. BTC, which tumbled to $111,658 just hours before the Powell speech, briefly rose to $117,521 before subsequently retreating to around $115,000. This meant the top crypto asset closed the seven-day period 1.7% lower, leading to its dominance dropping to 54.54% according to Coingecko data.
