Based on live CoinMarketCap data and its news feed (as of Aug 21, 2026), here's who is buying crypto right now: ## Market context - Global crypto market cap is **$2.52T, up 5.98% in 24h**; total 24h volume is $136.18B. - **Bitcoin is ~$74,750, up ~7.3% in 24h** and ~17.7% over 7 days, after briefly hitting $75,000 — its highest level since April. - The **CMC Fear & Greed Index is at 69/100 ("Greed")**, signaling strong buying sentiment. - Bitcoin dominance is 59.6%, and the Altcoin Season Index is 35/100 (still "Bitcoin Season"). ## Who is buying right now **1. Institutional investors (via BlackRock ETFs)** — The clearest "who" in the data: **BlackRock-linked clients bought $122 million of Ethereum**, their largest ETH purchase in seven months, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham (reported by COINTURK on CoinMarketCap). This points to institutional money flowing into ETH ETFs. **2. Political/regulatory-driven buyers** — News on the feed reports **Trump pushing Congress to pass the Clarity Act** and hinting at regulating Hyperliquid, which is cited as a catalyst behind Bitcoin's surge past $75,000. This is drawing in buyers betting on a clearer US regulatory framework. **3. Derivatives traders / large speculators** — A roughly **$2 million XRP volatility bet** crossed the tape as XRP rose ~16% in 24h, and a **$1.2B liquidation shock** is reportedly igniting "altcoin rotation" — meaning traders are rotating capital from Bitcoin into altcoins. **4. Exchange-driven retail flows** — South Korean exchange **Upbit listed new BTC and USDT trading pairs** (BICO, BMT, NIL, GWEI), expanding retail access. **5. Retail/meme traders** — The trending list is dominated by XRP, Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Pump.fun, and various memecoins (BOOK OF MEME +38%, "牛来" +66%), indicating active retail speculation. ## What they're buying - **Bitcoin** (dominant, +7.4% 24h) and **Ethereum** (institutional inflows) - **XRP** (+16% 24h, the #1 trending coin) - **Dogecoin** (+8.3%), **Solana** (+4.6%), **Hyperliquid** (+6.2%) - Memecoins and tokenized stocks (Invesco QQQ, NVIDIA, SpaceX tokenized bStocks) are also trending. **Caveat:** CoinMarketCap shows aggregate market data and news, but it does not publish a definitive real-time breakdown of exactly who (retail vs. institutional) is buying at any moment. The institutional buying signal (BlackRock/Arkham) and the regulatory/political catalyst (Trump/Clarity Act) are the strongest concrete indicators from the sources I opened. Sources: - [CoinMarketCap homepage — live prices & market cap](https://coinmarketcap.com/) - [CoinMarketCap Market Overview dashboard](https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/) - [CoinMarketCap Trending Cryptocurrencies](https://coinmarketcap.com/trending-cryptocurrencies/) - [CoinMarketCap Community Articles feed](https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/) - [BlackRock clients buy $122M in Ethereum (COINTURK via CoinMarketCap)](https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/6a87b24d1e086721a779371b/) - [CMC Fear & Greed Index](https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/fear-and-greed-index/)