Total crypto market capitalization rose 4% over the past week, reaching $2.99 trillion, despite Bitcoin’s price correcting from $87,000 to $84,000 in mid-week.
MARKET CAP CLOSES IN ON THE $3 TRILLION MILESTONE
The crypto economy ended the week in the green, with total market capitalization increasing from $2.87 trillion on September 20 to $2.99 trillion—equivalent to a 4% rise. In fact, the market surpassed the $3 trillion mark on Tuesday when Bitcoin and several altcoins hit their highest levels in months.
By Thursday, total market capitalization fell back below the $3 trillion threshold as Bitcoin dropped from above $87,000 to $84,000, pulling its market cap below $1.7 trillion. Despite this correction, the top cryptocurrency still ended the week up 4%. With only three days left in September, this price action increases the likelihood of achieving a double-digit gain for the month.
While bitcoin posted modest gains, edging closer to breakeven for the year, several large-cap altcoins jumped 10% or more as investors rotated capital across the sector. Bitcoin Cash led the rally, surging to nearly 30% after CME announced plans to launch perpetual futures for BCH in October. After peaking at $360 on September 23, BCH stabilized above $330 to close the week up 34%.
Similar to BCH’s weekly performance, Near Protocol (NEAR) rose from $4.16 at the start of the week to a peak of $5.48. This increase coincided with reports that Bitwise’s spot NEAR exchange-traded fund (ETF) has cleared key regulatory hurdles, potentially opening the door for institutional investors and brokerage accounts to access the asset. The ETF is expected to launch around September 29. Along with mandatory buybacks, this news boosted NEAR’s weekly gain and year-to-date increase to surpass the 31% and 250% marks, respectively.
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Zcash (ZEC) also recorded double-digit gains, up 11% and closing above $1,600. Other major altcoins saw double-digit increases as well, including XRP (up 10%), Solana (SOL, up 12%), Dogecoin (DOGE, up 12%), and Chainlink (LINK, up 13%).
Some other altcoins finished the week lower. Tron (TRX) fell 2.6%, and Hyperliquid (HYPE) closed down 1.1% to $91.71 just days after hitting a new all-time high of $97.96. Monero (XMR) dropped 2%, and Rain (RAIN) lost 10%. Gold-backed digital assets—Tether Gold (XAUT) and Pax Gold (PAXG)—both fell 2%.
Driven by a broad rally across alternative asset markets, the total market capitalization of altcoins has expanded from $1.25 trillion to about $1.3 trillion over the past week. The sustained price momentum and the “greed” indicator on the Crypto Fear & Greed Index are prompting market analysts to forecast a new upswing for digital assets—an action that could wipe out Bitcoin’s year-to-date losses while pushing the best-performing altcoins to new record highs.