Following the Federal Reserve's decision on September 16 to raise benchmark interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%, institutional investors injected $3.55 billion into cryptocurrency funds. According to CoinShares, this weekly inflow marks the highest volume recorded in 2026, signaling a return of market confidence after the policy decision eliminated previous uncertainty.
The capital influx was primarily driven by US-based products, which accounted for $3.43 billion of the total. Bitcoin funds led the market with $2.52 billion in inflows, followed by Ethereum at $702 million, Solana at $193 million, and XRP at $92.3 million. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded positive inflows across all five trading days of the week.
Corporate activity also contributed to the market movement, as MicroStrategy acquired an additional 1,666 BTC for $143 million. The company financed part of this purchase by issuing new shares of its stock, MSTR, a move that CoinShares noted results in the dilution of existing shareholders. MicroStrategy currently holds a total of 847,666 BTC.
The recent surge follows a period of volatility, including the failure of the CLARITY Act in the Senate on September 15, where the bill was rejected by a vote of 49 to 50. Additionally, the market previously faced a significant downturn in late May, when crypto funds experienced outflows totaling $1.67 billion in a single week.
