Crypto Market Cap Jumps 39.6% in Q3 2026, Ending Three Straight Quarterly Declines

According to CoinGecko's quarterly report, total crypto market capitalisation rose 39.6%, or $840.1 billion, in the third quarter of 2026 (July to September) to reach $3.0 trillion. It is the first quarterly gain after three straight declines and the strongest since the fourth quarter of 2024. Even so, market value remains 4.0% below where the year began. More than half the rise came in August 2026, up 21.8% ($489.8 billion). CoinGecko attributes it to a US Treasury announcement that it would at least double its planned long-dated bond buybacks and to sustained inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs. Ethereum gained 71.0% to $2,684 and outperformed bitcoin on $3.1 billion of net inflows into spot Ether ETFs. The price recovery was not matched by participation: average daily trading volume fell 8.6%, and spot volume on centralised exchanges dropped 14.2% to $1.65 trillion. Open interest in perpetual futures on centralised exchanges climbed 40.6% and passed $100 billion.