Bitcoin Drives Crypto Market Back Above $3 Trillion as Leveraged Bets Hit $160 Billion
Bitcoin's strongest rally in months has lifted the cryptocurrency market back above $3 trillion, as institutional investors returned to spot exchange-traded funds and traders increased leveraged bets ...
Source: Business Times · Business Standard · tradersunion · phemex · AOL · September 23, 2026 at 5:02 AM · AI-assisted report
Single-sourceWASHINGTON, 23 SEPTEMBER 2026 —
Bitcoin’s rally on Monday lifted the global cryptocurrency market back above the $3 trillion mark, with the digital‑asset leader surging to $87,381 before easing to around $85,000 on Tuesday, Business Times reported.
Market Impact
The surge follows the U.S. Treasury’s announcement last month that it would increase buybacks of long‑dated government bonds, a move that CoinGecko data shows has added more than $740 billion to the market’s total value. The rebound pushed the market’s capitalization above $3 trillion for the first time since January, signalling renewed appetite among investors for riskier assets after a period of monetary‑policy uncertainty and stalled cryptocurrency legislation in Washington.
Bitcoin’s advance has been swift. The cryptocurrency has risen more than 8 percent over the past five trading sessions, marking its strongest rally in months. Although the price remains well below its October 2025 record of over $126,000, the speed of the recent climb has revived leveraged trading activity.
Open interest in perpetual cryptocurrency futures – contracts that allow investors to bet on price movements without a set expiry – has climbed to nearly $160 billion, the highest level since late October 2025, according to CoinGlass data. Open interest measures the value of contracts that remain outstanding, indicating that traders are adding new positions rather than merely closing existing ones.
The surge also forced short sellers to unwind bearish bets. On Monday, traders betting against cryptocurrencies liquidated more than $920 million in short positions, yet overall open interest continued to rise, suggesting fresh leveraged bets were being placed even as the rally squeezed out short sellers.
Institutional demand has risen in tandem with the price rally. Spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds (ETFs) attracted $999 million in net inflows on Monday, the largest one‑day intake since 6 October, when Bitcoin was trading near its record high. The inflows represent a sharp reversal from the withdrawals recorded earlier in the previous week, with ETFs returning to positive flows late last week before Monday’s surge accelerated institutional demand.
Corporate buying added another layer of support. Strategy, a corporate investor, disclosed on Monday that it had purchased an additional 950 Bitcoin for approximately $75.7 million between 14 September and 20 September, raising its total holdings to 846,000 Bitcoin. The latest purchase priced the cryptocurrency at roughly $79,700 each, reinforcing Strategy’s status as one of the largest corporate holders and providing a source of demand outside the regulated ETF market.
The combined effect of institutional inflows, corporate accumulation and heightened derivatives activity has propelled the cryptocurrency market back into trillion‑dollar territory, a milestone not seen since the start of the year. Market participants in Malaysia and the broader Southeast Asian region, where crypto trading volumes have grown steadily, are likely to monitor the developments closely, as the resurgence may influence local exchanges, fintech firms and investors seeking exposure to digital assets.
The latest data suggest that the market’s momentum is being driven by both new leveraged positions and fresh capital inflows, rather than merely a short‑term correction of earlier outflows. As open interest in perpetual futures remains elevated and spot ETF inflows continue to outpace withdrawals, the trajectory of Bitcoin and the broader crypto market will hinge on whether the current risk appetite sustains, according to the figures cited by Bloomberg and CoinGecko.
Related: Strategy · U.S. Treasury · Washington