The total cryptocurrency market capitalization reclaimed $2.8 trillion during the week of September 19, briefly approaching $2.9 trillion amid a broad market rally.
Bitcoin surged 5% to $81,914, its highest level since September 4, recovering from a dip below $75,000 on September 16. The gains represented a significant turnaround for the cryptocurrency following the failed CLARITY Act vote. Bitcoin's price retreated slightly to settle just above $81,000 by late afternoon on September 19.
Altcoins Lead the Rally
Altcoins outpaced Bitcoin's gains during the week. Hyperliquid (HYPE) reached an all-time high of $94.48 on Saturday, delivering weekly gains of 18% and year-to-date gains of 260%. The surge pushed HYPE's market capitalization past $20 billion.
Privacy coins demonstrated particularly strong performance. Zcash (ZEC) reached a multi-year high of $1,590, with weekly gains reaching 36% and year-to-date gains of nearly 190%. The privacy coin's market capitalization approached $25 billion, maintaining its position as the ninth-most capitalized digital asset. Despite the rally, ZEC remains 54% below its all-time high of $3,191.93 set on October 28, 2016.
NEAR climbed 75% from $2.33 on September 13 to $4.06 by Sunday afternoon. Avalanche (AVAX) rose nearly 50% during the week, while Ether (ETH) and XRP gained between 3% and 6%.
Altcoin Market Capitalization Surges
The total market capitalization of altcoins jumped from $1.17 trillion at the start of the week to a peak of $1.23 trillion on Saturday before declining slightly to just under $1.2 trillion by Sunday afternoon.
Some analysts interpret the rally as a sign that an early-stage altcoin season is underway. The ETH/BTC trading pair broke a five-year downtrend, a technical development historically considered a bullish signal for altcoins outperforming Bitcoin. However, other market observers caution that while an altseason may develop during the upcoming bull run, it will likely be dominated by high-quality altcoins.
