TL;DR
U.S. equities rebounded, snapping multi-week losing streaks, supported by renewed strength in technology stocks and a sharp late-week pullback in energy prices. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.06% to 27,068.72, while the S&P 500 gained 1.21% to 7,743.41 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.28% higher to 51,828.62.
Oil prices moved sharply lower amid improving U.S. supply dynamics and expectations of potential diesel export restrictions. WTI crude declined 4.11% to US$95.92 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 2.19% to US$101.89 per barrel.
U.S. Treasury yields repriced materially higher following stronger-than-expected business activity data and rising inflation expectations. The benchmark 10-year yield increased 17 bps to 5.17%, after reaching an intraday high of 5.22%, while the 30-year yield rose 16 bps to 5.49%.
Gold came under pressure as higher real yields and renewed U.S. dollar strength weighed on precious metals. Spot gold (XAU/USD) declined 2.13% to US$4,284.97 per ounce, while the U.S. Dollar Index moved back above the 101 level.
Digital-asset ETF positioning strengthened across both BTC and ETH products. Spot Bitcoin ETF holdings increased by approximately 5,890 BTC, primarily driven by IBIT (+5,796 BTC). Spot Ethereum ETF holdings rose by approximately 9,486 ETH, with ETHA (+29,315 ETH) providing the largest positive contribution.
SUI outperformed the broader digital-asset market, gaining 36%, alongside renewed market attention around its confidential-finance roadmap and efforts to develop privacy-enabled, institution-oriented on-chain financial infrastructure.
BCH advanced 29% amid improving institutional-access infrastructure, supported by two key catalysts: CME’s planned launch of BCH futures and Grayscale’s filing for a spot BCH ETF.
Kakao Pay and KakaoBank partnered with Fireblocks to develop stablecoin infrastructure, highlighting continued institutional adoption of blockchain-based payment and settlement rails in South Korea.
The Bank of Korea launched a 24-hour KRW settlement pilot, representing another step toward modernizing domestic payment and settlement infrastructure.
Binance announced a US$100 million investment in Circle alongside an expanded USDC partnership, further strengthening institutional distribution and liquidity infrastructure around USDC.
Macro Overview
Equities Snap Losing Streaks as Tech AI Momentum and Friday Oil Relief Counter 5%+ Treasury Yields
Global financial markets navigated cross-asset turbulence during the week ending September 25, 2026, as robust macroeconomic expansion and elevated consumer inflation expectations pushed sovereign bond yields to multi-year highs, even as late-week energy relief allowed equities to stage a broad-based recovery. Following the Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate hike the previous week, sentiment was further challenged by mid-week economic releases. S&P Global’s U.S. Flash Composite PMI surged to 58.4 (Services 58.7, Manufacturing 57.0), signaling the fastest business output growth in more than five years alongside accelerating private-sector hiring. On Friday, the University of Michigan survey revealed that 1-year consumer inflation expectations ticked up to 4.6% (from 4.0% in August), fueling market expectations that the Federal Reserve may deliver an additional 25-basis-point hike at its October meeting (implied odds climbed to ~71% on the CME FedWatch Tool).
In sovereign bond markets, this combination of resilient growth and sticky price expectations triggered renewed selling. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield advanced 17 basis points on the week to close at 5.17%, after briefly touching an intraday peak of 5.22% on Friday — its highest level since 2007. The policy-sensitive 2-year yield rose 5.4 basis points to settle at 4.81%, while the long-duration 30-year Treasury yield surged 16 basis points to end at 5.49%.
Energy benchmarks experienced sharp cross-market divergence and an unusual blowout in regional differentials. WTI crude tumbled 4.11% on the week to settle at US$$ 95.92 per barrel, driven by rising U.S. domestic rig counts (Baker Hughes oil rigs at 452) and market concerns over proposed diesel export restrictions. In contrast, Brent crude remained underpinned by persistent Middle Eastern logistics and war risk premiums, closing down 2.19% at U$$ 101.89 per barrel. Crude prices retreated sharply on Friday following reports from the UN General Assembly in New York that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi presented a phased, seven-day diplomatic proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting maritime economic blockades.
Relief from tumbling input fuel costs provided the catalyst for a strong Friday equity rally (Dow +0.93%, S&P 500 +0.51%, Nasdaq +0.48%), allowing all three major U.S. indexes to close the week higher and snap multi-week losing streaks. Sector leadership remained concentrated in mega-cap technology and artificial intelligence infrastructure: Meta Platforms’ release of its next-generation MUSE AI agent spurred broad rallies across enterprise CPU and hardware suppliers, including Arm Holdings (+17.2%), Intel (+12.1%), and AMD (+10.0%). The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.06% to 27,068.72, the S&P 500 added 1.21% to 7,743.41, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.28% to finish at 51,828.62. (1)
Asset Class Highlights
U.S. Dollar Index
U.S. Dollar Index (DXY)
The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) extended its advance, rising 0.81% over the week to settle at 101.03. Stronger-than-expected composite PMI data and widening interest rate differentials pushed EUR/USD down to $1.139 and pressured the Japanese Yen, reinforcing greenback dominance. (2)
U.S. Treasury Yields
U.S. Treasury Yields
Sovereign yields moved higher across the curve as traders priced in prolonged central bank vigilance: 10-Year Treasury Yield settled at 5.17%, 30-Year Treasury Yield settled at 5.49%. (3)
Gold
Gold
Spot gold (XAU/USD) fell 2.13% to settle at US$ 4,284.97 per ounce. The yellow metal was pressured by the break of 10-year Treasury yields above 5.15%, a stronger dollar, and hawkish forward guidance from regional Federal Reserve presidents signaling potential further tightening before year-end. (4)
Crypto Markets Overview
Main Assets
ETH/BTC Ratio
BTC rose 4.1% last week, outperforming ETH’s 1.6% gain and pushing the ETH/BTC ratio down 2.3%.ETF flows showed a similarly clear divergence. Spot BTC ETFs recorded $2.3B in net inflows, the strongest weekly inflow since October 2025, while spot ETH ETFs saw $176M in net outflows. (5)
Market sentiment also strengthened, with the Crypto Fear & Greed Index rising to 74, firmly in the Greed zone. (6)
Total Market Cap
Crypto Total Marketcap
Crypto Total Marketcap Excluding BTC and ETH
Crypto Total Marketcap Excluding Top 10 Dominance
Total crypto market capitalization rose 4.0% last week, while market cap excluding BTC increased 4.7%. The broader altcoin market, excluding both BTC and ETH, showed stronger momentum, gaining 9.3% over the week.
BTC/ETH ETF Performance
Over the past 7 days, IBIT was the largest gainer, adding 5,795.7 BTC (+0.74%), while HODL saw the largest decline, down 926.8 BTC (-5.95%). Across the ETFs shown, net holdings increased by roughly 5,890 BTC, driven primarily by IBIT and FBTC. (7)
Over the past 7 days, ETHA was the largest gainer, adding 29,315 ETH (+0.84%), while ETHE saw the largest decline, shedding 20,195 ETH (-2.69%). Across the ETFs shown, net holdings increased by roughly 9,486 ETH, driven primarily by ETHA, partly offset by outflows from ETHE and ETH. (8)
Top 30 Crypto Assets Performance
Source: Coinmarketcap and Gate Ventures, as of 28th Sep 2026
Among the top 30 assets, prices surged 8.5% on average, SUI, BCH, and NEAR led the gain.
SUI surged 36% last week, leading the market, with the move potentially supported by Sui’s announcement of its confidential finance roadmap. The initiative combines confidential transfers, programmable access via Seal, and verifiable confidential computation through Nautilus, targeting private payments, treasury management, and institutional financial workflows while preserving selective compliance access. (9)
BCH surged 29% last week, with the rally likely supported by two major catalysts: CME Group announced plans to launch BCH futures on October 19, while Grayscale filed to convert its Bitcoin Cash Trust into a spot ETF. Together, the announcements strengthened BCH’s institutional-access narrative by expanding both regulated derivatives exposure and the potential for a listed spot investment product. (10)
The Key Crypto Highlights
Kakao Pay and KakaoBank partner with Fireblocks on stablecoin infrastructure
Kakao Pay and KakaoBank have signed an MoU with Fireblocks to explore digital asset infrastructure, with a particular focus on stablecoins and on-chain financial services in South Korea. The companies plan to run proof-of-concept tests for infrastructure tailored to local regulatory, security and service requirements, although no commercial launch timeline has been announced. (11)
Bank of Korea launches 24-hour won settlement pilot
The Bank of Korea has launched a pilot for its first 24-hour won settlement network, allowing foreign investors to settle KRW transactions outside normal Korean banking hours through accounts held with registered foreign institutions. The trial starts with KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana and Shinhan Bank, with full operations targeted for January 2027, as South Korea moves to improve cross-border access to the won and modernize its settlement infrastructure. (12)
Fed proposes new capital and redemption rules for stablecoin issuers
The Federal Reserve has proposed new rules for Fed-supervised stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, including tiered capital requirements, a general two-business-day redemption window, and monthly reserve disclosures reviewed by a registered accounting firm. Issuers whose reserves fall below the required 1:1 backing would have to notify the Fed and either restore the shortfall or liquidate reserves to redeem outstanding stablecoins, with the proposal now open for a 60-day public comment period. (13)
Key Ventures Deals
HIFI raised US$37M Series A to scale tokenized capital-markets infrastructure
HIFI has raised US$37 million in a Series A led by Left Lane Capital to expand its infrastructure for stablecoin payments and tokenized capital markets. The company provides APIs that combine money movement, compliance and settlement across traditional banking rails and digital assets, and says it currently processes more than US$7 billion in annualized volume across 87 countries. The funding follows HIFI’s participation in DTCC’s July production trades involving DTC-tokenized securities alongside BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq, as well as a recent Visa partnership that will enable stablecoin-funded payouts to more than 4 billion Visa cards globally. (15)
Infini raises US$6M seed round to scale AI-powered stablecoin financial platform
Infini has raised US$6 million in seed funding from Reforge, Fortwest Capital, Enlight Capital, NextGen Digital Venture, SNZ Capital and Vernal to expand its AI-powered global financial platform. The company combines stablecoin-based settlement with AI financial agents, offering products including global accounts, card payments, payroll, transfers and treasury management for both individuals and businesses. The funding will be used to expand global payment rails, strengthen licensing and compliance, accelerate development of its AI Financial Agents and build out infrastructure that can automate functions such as bookkeeping, approvals, payment execution and corporate treasury management ; Infini also launched a new mobile app alongside the round. (16)
Ventures Market Metrics
A total of 10 deals closed last week, led by infrastructure with 8 deals and social having 2.
Weekly Venture Deal Summary, Source: Cryptorank and Gate Ventures, as of 28th Sep 2026
Total disclosed funding reached $169.2M, with 3 deals not disclosing their funding amounts. Circle raised the largest round at $100M, while Infrastructure was the top-funded sector with $167.5M raised in total.
Weekly Venture Deal Summary, Source: Cryptorank and Gate Ventures, as of 28th Sep 2026
Total weekly fundraising surged to $169.2M for the fourth week of Sep-2026, an increase of 41% compared to the week prior.
About Gate Ventures
Gate Ventures, the venture capital arm of Gate, is focused on investments in decentralized infrastructure, middleware, and applications that will reshape the world in the Web 3.0 age. Working with industry leaders across the globe, Gate Ventures helps promising teams and startups that possess the ideas and capabilities needed to redefine social and financial interactions.
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The content herein does not constitute any offer, solicitation, or recommendation . You should always seek independent professional advice before making any investment decisions. Please note that Gate Ventures may restrict or prohibit the use of all or a portion of the services from restricted locations. For more information, please read its applicable user agreement.
Reference
https://www.jhinvestments.com/weekly-market-recap#market-moving-news
https://www.investing.com/rates-bonds/u.s.-10-year-bond-yield, https://www.investing.com/rates-bonds/u.s.-30-year-bond-yield
BTC & ETH ETF Inflow: https://sosovalue.com/tc/assets/etf/us-btc-spot
BTC Greed and Fear Index: https://alternative.me/crypto/fear-and-greed-index/
BTC ETF Top Gainer/Loser: https://www.coinglass.com/etf/bitcoin
ETH ETF Top Gainer/Loser: https://www.coinglass.com/etf/ethereum
SUI Confidential Roadmap: https://www.sui.io/blog/building-foundation-for-confidential-finance
BitcoinCash ETF:https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/en/article/bitcoin-cash-jumps-30percent-as-cme-futures-launch-grayscale-etf-filing-land
Kakao Pay and KakaoBank partner with Fireblocks on stablecoin infrastructure: https://cointelegraph.com/news/kakao-pay-kakaobank-fireblocks-stablecoin-infrastructure
Bank of Korea launches 24-hour won settlement pilot: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bank-korea-won-settlement-pilot
Fed proposes new capital and redemption rules for stablecoin issuers: https://cointelegraph.com/news/fed-proposes-new-capital-redemption-rules-for-stablecoin-issuers
HIFI raised US$37M Series A to scale tokenized capital-markets infrastructure: https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-09-24-hifi-raises-37-million-series-a-to-expand-tokenized-capital-markets-infrastructure-416242
Infini raises US$6M seed round to scale AI-powered stablecoin financial platform: https://infini.money/blog/raises
