# Crypto Market Rebounds With 39% Quarterly Growth Total market capitalization reached $3 trillion as August gains offset previous quarterly declines. - **Source:** [CryptoPotato](https://brifing.si/source/bd22636b-ec8d-42a8-8cca-1937c50e0f6c) - **Published:** 2026-10-18 - **Topic:** [Finance](https://brifing.si/c/finance) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/ab69b748-ac97-4ebd-9cbe-c279cbfb0f6b ## Market Cap Rebound Dynamics The total cryptocurrency market capitalization surged by $840 billion, marking a 39.6% increase to reach $3 trillion by the end of the third quarter. This performance effectively ended three consecutive quarters of decline. Despite this recovery, the market remains 4% lower year-to-date, reflecting the volatility experienced throughout the earlier months. ## August Performance Drivers August served as the primary catalyst for the quarter, contributing over half of the total gains with a 21.8% jump worth $490 billion. This growth was fueled by the US Treasury's decision to double planned buybacks of long-dated bonds. Additionally, consistent net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs provided essential institutional support. ## Ethereum Outperformance and Challenges Ethereum outperformed Bitcoin and other major assets with a 71% gain, reaching $2,684. This was supported by $3.1 billion in net inflows into US spot ETH funds, reversing first-half outflows. However, the network faces technical hurdles as the Glamsterdam upgrade missed its mainnet target, currently remaining in the test network phase. ## Trading Volume Contradiction While asset prices rose, market participation signaled caution as trading volumes continued to fall. Average daily volume dropped 8.6% to $73.3 billion, marking the third consecutive quarterly decline. Furthermore, spot volume at the top ten centralized exchanges slid 14.2% to $1.65 trillion, suggesting that price appreciation outpaced actual retail or institutional trading activity. ## Leverage and Open Interest Leverage returned to the market significantly faster than spot buyers, as evidenced by perpetual futures data. Open interest rose 40.6%, closing above $100 billion for the first time since the third quarter of 2025. This indicates that traders are increasingly utilizing derivatives to gain exposure rather than purchasing the underlying assets directly. ## Exchange Market Share Shifts Binance expanded its spot market share to 42.7%, up from 38.7% in the second quarter, remaining the only exchange in double digits. Conversely, platforms like KuCoin and Deribit saw significant declines of 41.2% and 18.9% respectively. Bitget also lost ground, falling to the eleventh position following a security breach in September. ## Emergence of Robinhood Chain Launched on July 1, the Robinhood Chain recorded over $88.9 billion in trading volume during the quarter. Although designed for tokenized stocks and real-world assets, the platform was dominated by meme coin activity. Daily transactions averaged 9.5 million, though the vast majority of newly deployed tokens failed to maintain any long-term market traction. ## Post-Quarter Market Pressure The market has faced renewed pressure since the quarter closed, with Bitcoin hitting a monthly low of $80,200 on October 15. This downturn is attributed to negative sentiment from Asian stock markets and September inflation data that exceeded forecasts. These factors highlight the ongoing sensitivity of crypto assets to broader macroeconomic indicators. ## Sources covering this story - https://cryptopotato.com/crypto-ends-three-quarter-losing-streak-with-39-q3-gain-report/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._