This week the entire crypto market cap rose 5% to $217 billion. Bitcoin rose by 4% with a majority of the rise occurring in a five-minute window on the morning of August 22. On the other hand, Ethereum fell by 1% this week. The ether-bitcoin ratio (ETH/BTC) is approaching the 2018 lows set earlier in August. Ethereum has remained under greater selling pressure than Bitcoin since February.
Bitcoin rises while exchange under maintenance In the morning of August 22, 2018 around 1:00 UTC the Bitcoin price spiked by $400 on Bitfinex. The large buy orders came at a time when the largest exchange by volume, BitMEX, was
down for scheduled maintenance. Upon reopening BitMEX back to trading, many clients had
difficulty logging in, further adding to the market's confusion as the price rose. Additionally, as the chart below shows, the
record number of shorts on Bitfinex only added to the price increase as short trades were liquidated and forced to buy spot BTC.