XMR Outperforms Bitcoin In August, Seeing Its Best Month In Over 5 Years

• Monero surged nearly 50% in August, its best month since April 2021, outpacing Bitcoin's 24% monthly uptick and Ethereum's 31% gains.

• THORChain's Version 3.20 upgrade added native Monero swaps with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins.

• Analysts flagged broader altcoin strength too, with open interest hitting its highest level since the October 10 cryptocurrency crash.

Monero (XMR) was one of the biggest winners among cryptocurrencies in August, with gains of nearly 50% for the month, far ahead of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) despite the broader rally.

Bitcoin rose around 24%, while Ethereum gained roughly 31% month-to-date. Monero's August rally was on track for its strongest monthly performance since April 2021. That rally has been accompanied by a wave of fresh activity in Monero's derivatives market. 

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Why Is Open Interest Surging?

The XMR derivatives market remained very active with total open interest at $319.89 million, which stands about 623,050 XMR, according to Coinglass data. However, total open interest was up 11.28% over the last 24 hours, despite a 1.62% drop over the last hour and 6.91% drop over the last four hours, suggesting traders are still adding leveraged positions amid Monero's steep rally.