The total cryptocurrency market capitalization surged 39.6% in the third quarter, ending three consecutive quarters of declines. Ethereum (ETH) outperformed Bitcoin (BTC), even as trading volumes continued to fall.
Key points:
The total crypto market capitalization rose by $840.1 billion during the quarter, ending September at $2.96 trillion.
Ethereum gained 71% to reach $2,684, while average daily trading volume fell for the third consecutive quarter.
Since then, Bitcoin has slipped toward $80,000, weighed down by high inflation figures and weakness in Asian stocks.
Ethereum leads the rebound
CoinGecko published its sector report for the third quarter last week, showing that total market capitalization rose by $840.1 billion to reach $2.96 trillion, while remaining about 4% below its level at the start of the year. It was the strongest quarter since late 2024.
Most of the recovery took place in August: market capitalization rose by 21.8%, or $489.8 billion, that month after the US Treasury announced that it planned to at least double its purchases of long-term securities, while spot Bitcoin ETFs continued to record positive net inflows. The failure of a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act in the Senate on September 15 did little to slow the rally.
Ethereum climbed 71% to $2,684, outperforming all other large-cap cryptocurrencies, buoyed by $3.1 billion in net inflows into US spot Ether funds, which erased all the outflows from the first half of the year. Bitcoin, for its part, reportedly rose 42.7% to $83,576 over the same period.
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Crypto trading volumes lag behind
The quarter was characterized by prices rising faster than participation, CoinGecko analysts note. Average daily volume fell 8.6% from the second quarter to $73.3 billion, marking a third consecutive decline, while spot trading volumes across the 10 largest centralized platforms dropped 14.2% to $1.65 trillion. Momentum was different in leveraged markets.
Open interest on the largest perpetual futures exchanges surged 40.6%, surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time since the third quarter of 2025. Binance increased its spot market share to 42.7%, up from 38.7%, while open interest plunged 41.2% at KuCoin and 18.9% at Deribit. The report describes this as an “uneven” move rather than a genuine, broad-based rebound.
A Bitcoin bottom, according to Glassnode
Glassnode analysts believe a wave of loss-taking when Bitcoin approached $80,000 on October 15 could signal the formation of a local bottom, if past patterns repeat. Similar episodes in August and September preceded local lows.
The company highlights the average cost basis of US spot Bitcoin ETF holders, at around $81,500, as a key level, and identifies a resistance zone near $88,000.
Bitcoin hit a monthly low of $80,200 on October 15, following higher-than-expected inflation figures and a correction in Asian stock markets. Nearly $1 billion in leveraged positions, mostly long, were liquidated that day. The cryptocurrency was trading around $81,000 on October 18, about 35% below its October 2025 record, near $126,200, while spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded roughly $617 million in net outflows during the first half of October.
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