The cryptocurrency market has ended a three-quarter downturn, marking a significant recovery in the third quarter of 2026. According to CoinGecko’s Q3 report, the total market capitalization surged 39.6%, reaching approximately $3 trillion. This represents the strongest quarterly gain since the end of 2024. However, despite the price recovery, a noticeable decline in trading volumes could not be ignored.
Ethereum Leads Gains as HYPE Token Reaches New Heights
Throughout the quarter, the market added $840.1 billion to its total capitalization, climbing from around $2.1 trillion at the end of June to $2.96 trillion by the end of September. Despite this robust rebound, the market remains 4% below its level at the beginning of the year. August was particularly pivotal, contributing over half of the gains. The U.S. Treasury’s announcement to double the planned buybacks of long-term government bonds and continued net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs bolstered the market significantly, pushing total market capitalization up by 21.8% or $489.8 billion in August alone.
Ethereum emerged as a standout performer, recording a 71% increase, pushing its price to $2,684, thus breaking its own three-quarter losing streak and outpacing Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies. A critical factor was the $3.1 billion net inflow into spot ETH ETFs in the U.S., reversing the net outflows seen in the first half of 2026. Nevertheless, Ethereum’s average daily trading volume dropped 23.2% to $11.5 billion from the previous quarter’s $15 billion.
Ether’s next major update, the Glamsterdam upgrade, which was postponed in the second quarter, did not launch on the mainnet in this quarter either. Trials on test networks are ongoing, with Sepolia activation occurring on October 6.
Meanwhile, the HYPE token issued by Hyperliquid experienced a surge driven by favorable regulatory news from the U.S. President Donald Trump announced on August 19 that CFTC Chairman Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid to the U.S. market, propelling the token up by 40.5% within four days. HYPE reached a record high of $82 before climbing to a new peak of $98 on September 23.
Despite Drops in Spot Volume, Futures Open Interest Rises
While price hikes continued, daily average trading volumes on the crypto market dwindled by 8.6% over the quarter, hovering at $73.3 billion, marking a third consecutive quarterly decline. However, activity surged within the quarter, with average daily volumes rising from $57.7 billion in July to $94.8 billion in September.
The cumulative spot trading volume of the top 10 centralized exchanges declined by 14.2%, decreasing from $1.93 trillion to $1.65 trillion. Monthly volumes fell to $443.6 billion in July but rebounded to $712.3 billion in August. Binance expanded its market share in the shrinking spot market, rising from 38.7% in the second quarter to 42.7%, being the only exchange among the top 10 with a double-digit market share.
“This period demonstrated an unusual divergence between price increases and trading activity,” CoinGecko noted in its report.
In contrast to subdued spot markets, open interest in perpetual futures saw rapid growth. The total open interest on the largest 10 centralized futures exchanges jumped by 40.6%, concluding the quarter above $100 billion for the first time since the third quarter of 2025. Binance saw a remarkable growth of $12.7 billion in absolute terms, while KuCoin and Deribit experienced declines in open interest by 41.2% and 18.9%, respectively.
These figures indicate a strong price recovery that trading volumes did not entirely mirror. The rapid rebound in futures open interest, contrasting with sluggish spot volumes and the distinctions between exchanges, underscores the uneven distribution of growth across the entire market.
