The global cryptocurrency market capitalisation rose to almost $2.82tn on Thursday, its highest level in more than seven months, as Bitcoin moved above $81,000 and leading alternative coins recorded double-digit gains.
The surge marks a significant recovery from the market’s sharp sell-off in January. Total crypto market value fell from approximately $3.4tn in the middle of January to about $2.3tn during the first week of February.
Bitcoin was trading at around $81,460 when the article was published, representing a gain of 5.4%. The wider rally was led by Zcash, whose native ZEC token increased by 16.5% to about $950.15.
Cardano rose by 13% to approximately $0.22, while Dogecoin and XRP each gained about 10%. The gains extended beyond digital assets, with shares in companies linked to the cryptocurrency sector also advancing.
Strategy, the leading Bitcoin treasury company, climbed by 15%, while Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, also gained 15%. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase rose by about 10%.
The move higher also took Strategy’s STRC preferred shares close to their intended $100 par value. The shares had fallen as low as $69 five weeks earlier.
“Bitcoin breaking the $80k wall, fueled by $100 million of ETF inflows and OTC activity, was enough to banish the bears ahead of U.S. economic data,” Wincent Senior Director Paul Howard said.
Howard added that renewed activity in memecoins had contributed to the market’s momentum. He said the conditions could support what he expects to be a gradual rise towards $100,000 for Bitcoin by the end of the year.
Focus turns to Federal Reserve decision
Investor attention is now turning to the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on 16 September.
Markets are almost evenly divided over the outcome. Traders are currently assigning a 50.4% probability to a 25-basis-point rate increase, compared with a 49.6% chance that policymakers leave rates unchanged.
Richard Green, head of institutional at RootstockLabs, said Bitcoin’s rise alongside gold reflected the so-called “debasement trade”. That term describes investor concern about government debt and the possibility that those pressures could eventually lead to additional monetary support.
“The closer those conditions get to crisis levels, the more investors allocate capital towards assets, particularly hard assets,” Green said.
He also warned that further declines in cryptocurrency prices remained possible.
Adam Haeems, head of asset management at Tesseract Group, highlighted about $1.4bn in Bitcoin put options expiring in September, with strike prices between $68,000 and $75,000. Put options give investors protection against a fall in price.
However, total open interest in puts is roughly half the level of call options, which benefit from rising prices. A substantial concentration of call positions lies between $82,000 and $100,000.
Haeems described the overall market positioning as a “hedged long”, meaning investors are maintaining exposure to Bitcoin while using options to protect themselves against a potential pullback.
The Block is an independent media outlet providing news, research and data. Since November 2023, Foresight Ventures has been a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the cryptocurrency sector, while cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is an anchor limited partner for Foresight Ventures. The Block says it continues to operate independently in order to provide objective, timely and impactful coverage of the cryptocurrency industry.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal, tax, investment or financial advice. © 2026 The Block. All rights reserved.
