Matt Hougan (맷 호건), chief investment officer (CIO) of Bitwise, said the third quarter of 2026 could be the starting point for a “crypto spring.”

Cointelegraph reported on Tuesday that Bitwise’s third-quarter market review showed a major cryptocurrency index rose 46.4 percent from the previous quarter. Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) logged $6 billion of net inflows.

The crypto rebound was seen across major assets. Bitcoin rose 42.3 percent in the third quarter. Ethereum gained 69.1 percent and Solana climbed 59.2 percent. All 10 assets in Bitwise’s large-cap crypto index posted double-digit gains. Chainlink (LINK) rose the most, up 97.6 percent.

The rebound was not limited to prices. The market value of tokenised equities rose 65.5 percent to nearly $3.2 billion. Open interest in decentralised perpetual futures also increased to about $26 billion, hitting a record high. In that market, the share linked to equities, commodities, foreign exchange and pre-IPO shares increased.

Debate over whether the market has passed its bottom also continues. Hougan pointed to ETF inflows and increased on-chain activity as additional signs of recovery. “Just three months ago, the crypto market was in the depths of despair,” he said. “Prices, on-chain activity and ETF inflows were all falling,” he added.

The recovery was not evenly spread across the industry. Shares of bitcoin miners Riot Platforms and Hut 8 fell 26.4 percent and 25.4 percent, respectively, in the third quarter. Galaxy Digital also fell 16.8 percent over the same period. The number of listed companies holding bitcoin fell about 6 percent during the quarter to 173. Their total holdings rose 0.5 percent. The number of listed companies holding ethereum fell to 35 from 40, but total holdings increased.

Bitwise’s large-cap crypto index was also down 6.2 percent for the year as of end-September. Despite the surge in the third quarter, performance since the start of the year remained negative.

Bitwise said the tokenisation market could move beyond pilot projects into actual operations in the fourth quarter. It also projected that an innovation exemption being pursued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could bring additional tokenised assets worth billions of dollars onto blockchains. It cited the potential for increased asset inflows into Ethereum, Solana and Near (NEAR), among others.

Expansion of the decentralised perpetual futures market was also cited as a key point to watch in the fourth quarter. Perpetual futures traded since the start of the year on exchanges such as Hyperliquid and Lyra exceeded $6 trillion, up 42 percent from a year earlier. Bitwise forecast that if U.S. investors enter the market amid expected regulatory support, growth could accelerate further.