Cryptocurrency prices surged over the past 24 hours as optimism grew around inflation data and potential interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Investors turned to crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, especially amid rising tensions between the U.S. government and the central bank.

The total crypto market cap jumped over 3% overnight, now standing at a massive $3.22 trillion. This rally was driven by strong buying activity, especially in U.S.-based Bitcoin Spot ETFs, and a wave of short position liquidations that helped push prices higher.

New inflation numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that annual inflation stayed steady at 2.7%, just as expected. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, also held firm at 2.7%, surprising analysts who expected it to rise slightly. On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.3%, while core inflation came in at 0.2%—lower than the 0.3% expected.

This data gave investors more confidence that the Fed might ease up on interest rates sooner rather than later. That positive sentiment was reflected in the CoinMarketCap Fear and Greed Index, which moved deeper into “neutral” territory, climbing to 52 from 41 the previous day.

Market data from Coinglass showed that $686 million worth of crypto positions were liquidated in the past day. Of that, $590 million were short positions—bets that prices would fall—creating a “short squeeze” that helped push prices up quickly.

Bitcoin Spot ETFs had a big day on Tuesday, pulling in $754 million in net inflows, compared to just $117 million on Monday. The top performers included:
– Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC): $351 million in inflows
– Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB): $159 million
– iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT): $126 million

These were the strongest inflows since October.

Ethereum Spot ETFs also saw a surge, with net inflows hitting $130 million on Tuesday, up from $5 million on Monday. The iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) led the way with $53 million in new investments.

The crypto market’s daily trading volume also jumped 18.6% to reach $157 billion. Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, about 80 posted gains of over 1% in the past 24 hours, while only four dropped by more than 1%.

Bitcoin rose 3.4% to trade at $95,087.77. It’s still about 25% below its all-time high of $126,198.07 reached on October 7, 2025. Over the past week, Bitcoin has also gained 3.4%, with prices fluctuating between $96,011.62 and $91,750.14. Bitcoin now holds a dominant 58.7% share of the entire crypto market.

Ethereum climbed 5.2% overnight to reach $3,294.68 but remains 33% below its record high of $4,953.73 from August 25, 2025. Its price ranged between $3,357.75 and $3,127.32 in the last day, giving Ethereum a market dominance of about 12.3%.

In terms of asset rankings by market cap:
– Bitcoin is ranked 8th globally
– Ethereum is ranked 35th

Other major cryptocurrencies also saw gains:
– XRP (Ranked #4): Up over 3%, now at $2.12 (45% below all-time high)
– BNB (Ranked #5): Up nearly 3%, trading at $933.91 (32% below peak)
– Solana (Ranked #6): Up 1.8%, priced at $144.49 (51% off its high)
– TRON (Ranked #8): Gained 1.1%, trading at $0.3017 (32% below ATH)
– Dogecoin (Ranked #9): Jumped 5.3%, now at $0.1466 (80% below all-time high)
– Cardano (Ranked #10): Up 5.9%, trading at $0.4152 (87% off its peak)

Among the top 100 coins, Story (IP), a blockchain focused on digital intellectual property, led the way with a massive 26.2% gain overnight. Internet Computer (ICP), associated with AI and Big Data use cases, followed closely with a 16.1% jump—pushing the AI & Big Data sector up more than 5%.

On the downside, MemeCore (M) saw the biggest drop among top tokens, falling over 4%. Canton (CC) also dipped nearly 3%.

The crypto market continues to show strong momentum as investors respond positively to inflation data and increasing flows into ETFs—highlighting growing institutional interest in digital assets.