OVERVIEW
Stocktwits Crypto Data Dive - Week 36
Welcome to the Stocktwits Crypto Data Dive for Week 36 of 2026! 📊
In this issue, we'll dive into the data to keep you informed about the progress of the overall crypto market and shine a spotlight on emerging and established trends.
What You’ll Find In The Stocktwits Crypto Data Dive has three main objectives:
Total and Altcoin caps, stamped with YTD moves and the gap to ATH.
Seven-layer market-cap recap (TMC ex-stables, ex-top-50, and five more flavors).
Crypto Index Performance covering 12 indices.
The Liquidation Station boards the train with 30-day totals plus a 7-day heatmap for maximum schadenfreude.
Market Heatmap, Social Volume Heatmap, Active Address Heatmap.
ETF scorecards for BTC and ETH still tracking 7- and 30-day flows.
So, without further delay, let's jump right into the data from week 36 and explore its intriguing insights! 🚀
CRYPTO
Crypto Market Cap Update
What is the broader trend within the crypto market? The simplest way to track this is by using three market cap charts. So let's see what we got. 🔭
*the price levels and performance values may be very different from what you read in your mailbox vs. what's happening in the live market. This is especially true when crypto faces a new bull or bear run.
Total Market Cap
All-Time High Close: $4.22 trillion
YTD: -10%
From ATH: -36%
Click to enlarge.
Altcoin Market Cap
All-Time High: $1.73 trillion
YTD: -11%
From ATH: -38%
Click to enlarge.
CRYPTOTWITS
Missed An Issue This Week? I Got Ya Right Here 👇
Here’s this week’s Cryptotwits newsletters. That you probably read already. Maybe. Probably.
Wednesday - Study: Sideways-Down Is The Worst Direction 🤦
CRYPTO
Stocktwits Crypto Index RRG
Relative Rotation Graphs (RRG) help us visualize how a currency or sector performs compared to a benchmark - in this case, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY). Think of the four colored sectors as stages in a race:
Leading Quadrant (green) - You're a champ! 🏆 You're ahead of everyone else, and the crowd is cheering. But watch out; you might be overdoing it.
Weakening Quadrant (yellow) - You're slowing down 😓 and losing your lead. Maybe you're a bit demoralized because your biggest fan didn't show up. You're now in the middle of the pack.
Lagging Quadrant (red) - Disaster strikes! 😱 You're injured, exhausted, or just made a big mistake. You're now in last place, and it's a sad scene.
Improving Quadrant (blue) - Time for a comeback! 💪 Your motivation returns, the music swells, and you're picking up speed. You're back in the middle, catching up with the leaders.
Analyzing the RRG Examples
Example 1: Rapid Rotation
- If an instrument moves quickly through all four quadrants, it could indicate high volatility or erratic behavior. Traders may want to be cautious or use appropriate risk management strategies in such cases.
Example 2: Stuck in the Middle
- An instrument that remains close to the center of the RRG might be in a consolidation phase, lacking a clear trend or momentum. Traders might wait for a decisive move before entering a position.
Example 3: Consistent Leader
- If an instrument stays in the Leading Quadrant (top right) for an extended period, it could signify a strong, sustained uptrend. Traders might consider buying opportunities or riding the trend.
Example 4: Slow Recovery
- An instrument that gradually moves from the Lagging Quadrant (bottom left) to the Improving Quadrant (blue) and eventually to the Leading Quadrant (green) could indicate a slow but steady recovery. Traders might look for potential reversal or bottom-fishing opportunities.
The GIF below shows the past 21 days of movement on the RRG.
The GIF below shows the past 13 weeks of movement on the RRG.
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CRYPTO
Weekly Total Market Cap (TMC) Performance
Index | Value | Weekly Performance |
|---|---|---|
TMC Excluding BTC and ETH | $760B | +3% |
TMC Excluding BTC and Stablecoins | $775B | +6% |
TMC Excluding BTC, ETH, and Stablecoins | $476B | +3% |
TMC Excluding Stablecoins | $2.37T | +18% |
TMC Excluding Top 10 | $202B | +6% |
TMC Excluding Top 50 | $41B | +8% |
TMC Excluding Top 100 | $6.8B | +11% |
CRYPTO
Weekly Crypto Index Performance
Index | Weekly Performance |
|---|---|
AI | +4% |
Decentralized Finance | +9% |
Decentralized Physical Infrastructure | +8% |
Exchange Tokens | +3% |
Layer 1 | +5% |
Meme | +8% |
Proof-Of-Stake | +8% |
Proof-Of-Work | +6% |
Real World Asset Tokenization | +5% |
Rehypothecated | +6% |
Smart Contracts | +10% |
Stablecoins | 0% |
CRYPTO
Liquidation Station 😱
Interested in how much has been flushed out of leveraged long and short positions? Who’s getting hurt the most? This is the best place to get an idea of how leveraged positions are doing. 🔴
30-day Total Liquidations 📆
What You’re Looking At
Green bars above zero = longs blown out because price fell.
Red bars below zero = shorts blown out because price ripped.
Left-hand scale is U.S. dollars (millions); the dashed line near the top sits at $1B.
30-day Total Crypto Liquidation Chart - Click to enlarge.
August 16 - August 17 - Short liquidations start expanding as BTC finally pushes out of its prior range. The warning shot before the artillery arrives.
August 18 - The monster. $2.739B in shorts liquidated, the largest short-side wipe of the entire window by an absurd margin as BTC accelerates higher.
August 19 - August 20 - The squeeze keeps going. Shorts take roughly another $600M-$700M and $1.2B in successive sessions as BTC presses toward the upper-$70Ks.
August 21 - Longs finally get a turn, with roughly $700M liquidated as the initial breakout move retraces. Late breakout buyers discover there are, in fact, two directions.
August 23 - August 27 - Two-sided liquidation activity settles mostly into the $200M-$400M range while BTC consolidates at its new higher level.
September 2 - Shorts take another roughly $450M-$500M hit during a late-window upside push, but nothing remotely resembles August 18.
Quick read
What You’re Looking At
Rows = coins, columns = timestamps.
Color = head-count of forced liquidations (legend tops at 2,000).
A cell showing “BTC 1,600” means 1,600 separate BTC positions were liquidated.
Weekly Crypto Liquidation History Heatmap - Click to enlarge.
August 30 12:00 - First major broad flare. BTC and SOL push into orange, with XRP and ZEC also showing elevated liquidation counts.
August 31 04:00 - September 1 12:00 - BTC and ETH repeatedly run hot, with SOL following closely. Several major-coin cells approach the 2,000-trader cap.
September 2 04:00 - Another synchronized majors-led burst. BTC and ETH hit orange while SOL and several high-beta names follow.
September 2 20:00 - September 3 12:00 - One of the broadest stretches of the week. BTC, ETH, XRP, ZEC, SNDK, ENA, and PUMP all show stronger liquidation counts.
September 4 04:00 - BTC, SOL, ZEC, and SNDK flare again, with several cells reaching yellow/orange territory.
September 4 late session - Heat falls off sharply across much of the board. Either everyone learned something or they simply ran out of people to liquidate. History favors option two.
Some Interesting Insights 👓
Both sides got cleaned out, but there is no pretending this was balanced: August 18's $2.739B short wipe owns the monthly chart.
The weekly map shows liquidation participation remained high weeks later, even after daily notional totals returned to much smaller levels.
BTC and ETH continued leading the liquidation cycle, with SOL, XRP, ZEC, and a handful of higher-beta names amplifying the moves.
No catalyst is identified in the screenshots, so the clean read stays mechanical: BTC broke higher, crowded shorts were forced out, then leverage rebuilt around the new range.
Early-warning rule: a giant liquidation event is not necessarily the end of leverage risk. If the daily bars normalize but the heat-map keeps turning orange, the crowd has already started rebuilding the same problem.
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Author Disclosure: The author of this newsletter holds positions in AVAX, ADA, PUDGY, WLD, NEAR, INJ, LTC, LINK, ZEC, XLM, and FET. 📋