Market explosion: BTC maintains $116,000, XRP, SOL, and DOGE rise to the sky as investors expect the Fed to lower interest rates.

The cryptocurrency market continues to show green in today's session, as recent signals indicate that capital inflows from investors are still strong into digital assets.

A solid increase has helped the total market capitalization rise by 2.2%, bringing the total value to 4.090 trillion USD at the time of recording.

The Fear and Greed Index currently stands at 53, reflecting a neutral sentiment. This indicates that although the market is on a steady upward trend, there is still room for a longer-term bullish trend.

However, the technical perspective brings some caution: the relative strength index (RSI) is at the level of 65 - close to the "overbought" zone - signaling that the market may soon enter a short-term correction.

Cryptocurrency prices today: Bitcoin breaks out, altcoins rise in unison

In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) recorded an increase of over 1%, surpassing the 116,000 USD mark, fluctuating within the range of 114,794 – 116,769 USD. However, trading volume decreased by 12%, down to 47 billion USD, indicating investor caution.

In the altcoin group, Ethereum (ETH) shone with an increase of more than 4.5%, reaching 4,717 USD, while trading volume rose 7% to 43 billion USD. XRP also jumped 4% to 3.16 USD, while Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) increased by 1.6% and 6% respectively. BNB followed the general market trend, rising by 3%.

A notable highlight is the meme coin group, with Dogecoin (DOGE) surging 13% to 0.2933 USD, with trading volume skyrocketing 60%, reaching 6.5 billion USD. Shiba Inu (SHIB) increased by 10% to 0.00001454 USD, while PEPE – the "green frog" themed coin – impressed with a 16% increase in just 24 hours.

The recent surge has raised questions among many investors about the reasons behind this wave of excitement. Several factors can be mentioned, notably the strong increase from institutional capital.

Institutional capital supports the upward trend

According to data from Farside Investors, the Ethereum spot ETF funds in the U.S. have seen an impressive recovery in capital flow. On September 9th alone, the inflow reached $734.3 million, after experiencing an outflow of $96.7 million on September 8th. Notably, September 12th marked the highest capital flow of the week, reaching $405.5 million, with Fidelity's FETH fund leading at $168.2 million, closely followed by BlackRock's ETHA at $165.6 million.

At the same time, spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US are also attracting significant capital flows, indicating that institutional investors are regaining interest. The total net capital flow of Bitcoin ETFs for the week reached 2.32 billion USD. On September 12, Fidelity's FBTC fund received 315.2 million USD, while BlackRock's IBIT fund recorded a capital flow of 264.7 million USD on Friday.

Cryptocurrency prices surge thanks to strong Bitcoin ETF inflows | Source: Farside Investors## Expectations of Fed rate cuts add momentum

In addition, expectations about the ability of the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut interest rates are boosting market sentiment. Although the CPI inflation index recently announced in the US was higher than expected, investors are still betting heavily that the Fed will decide to lower interest rates in the meeting on September 17.

The odds of the Fed cutting interest rates in September | Source: CME FedWatch toolAccording to the CME FedWatch tool, the probability of the Fed lowering by 25 basis points has now reached 93%. In fact, lower policy interest rates typically expand liquidity in the market, facilitating risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, to continue their breakout.

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