Key Facts

Big Number

About $161 billion. That’s how much has been added to the global crypto market’s aggregate market value between Saturday and Wednesday, rising from $3.17 trillion to $3.3 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

Why Are Crypto Prices On The Rise?

The crypto market appears to be boosted by a mixed jobs report last week and lighter-than-expected inflation data on Tuesday, which sustained hopes that the Federal Reserve would vote to lower interest rates in the near future. Cryptocurrency prices tend to rise during periods of lower interest rates: Bitcoin surged during the pandemic as rates fell, increasing from $5,000 in March 2020 to around $69,000 by November 2021. In 2018, when the Fed voted for rate hikes, bitcoin’s value dropped from around $20,000 to roughly $3,000. Traders have priced in 5% odds the Fed will cut interest rates later this month, though odds of a 25-basis-point reduction are more likely in March (26%), April (34.7%) and June (47.5%), which has 20.8% odds for rates to be lowered by 50 basis points to between 3% and 3.25%, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. The Senate is also moving closer to advancing the Clarity Act, a proposed law that defines which digital assets are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, after the Senate Banking Committee said Tuesday it would discuss markups to the legislation this week. Bitcoin rallied above $120,000 last year when House Republicans and President Donald Trump pushed the Clarity Act and other pro-crypto legislation during what they called “crypto week.”

Key Background

The Trump administration promoted legislation early last year to ease regulatory burdens on the crypto market, boosting bitcoin and other top tokens to new record highs. Bitcoin eclipsed the $110,000 and $120,000 milestones within a two-month stretch, as more companies signaled investments in bitcoin, including Trump Media and Technology Group, which announced a $2.5 billion plan to establish a corporate bitcoin reserve. The U.S. has also built up its own reserve, with the federal government’s stockpiling reaching up to $20 billion in assets as of August 2025, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who noted the U.S. would not be purchasing additional bitcoin.