Crypto Market Cap Hits $2.82 Trillion as Bitcoin Breaks $81,000

The global crypto market capitalization climbed to nearly $2.82 trillion on Thursday. This marks the highest level in more than seven months. Bitcoin rose above $81,000 and traded near $81,460, up 5.4%. The rebound follows a sharp sell-off earlier this year when the market dropped from about $3.4 trillion in mid-January to $2.3 trillion in early February.
Zcash Leads Strong Altcoin Gains
Zcash posted the biggest gain among major tokens, jumping 16.5%. Cardano climbed 13%. Dogecoin and XRP each advanced roughly 10%. The broad rally showed renewed interest across both large and mid-cap cryptocurrencies.
Crypto Stocks Join the Rally
Crypto-related equities also moved higher. Strategy shares gained around 15% to 17%. Circle rose about 16%. Coinbase advanced roughly 10%. Strategy’s preferred shares recovered nearly to their $100 target after falling as low as $69 five weeks ago.
Fed Decision and Market Outlook
Traders are almost evenly split on the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 meeting. Markets price a 50.4% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike and a 49.6% chance of no change. Analysts point to ETF inflows, memecoin activity, and demand for hard assets as key drivers. Some expect bitcoin could reach $100,000 by year-end, though short-term pullbacks remain possible.
