TradingKey - On September 21, Bitcoin (BTC) extended its strong rally from the second half of last week, breaking above the $84,000 mark intraday to set a new recent high; Ethereum (ETH) strengthened in tandem, reclaiming $2,700 intraday and climbing to a peak of $2,713. The continuous rally in the two major cryptocurrencies has driven a clear recovery in digital asset market sentiment.

Bitcoin daily price chart, Source: TradingView

Previously affected by the Federal Reserve's rate hikes and the U.S. Senate's failure to advance the Clarity Act, Bitcoin had briefly fallen to near $75,000, but quickly reclaimed the $78,000 and $80,000 levels. Last Friday, Bitcoin surged nearly 6% in a single day, driving crypto-concept stocks such as Coinbase (COIN), Strategy (MSTR), and Robinhood (HOOD) to rally across the board.

New developments on the regulatory front have become an important factor in improving market sentiment. The U.S. SEC last week introduced a five-year "innovation exemption," allowing eligible platforms to trade tokenized U.S. stocks on the blockchain. This means that even if the Clarity Act is stalled in Congress, U.S. regulators continue to advance reforms to certain digital asset market rules.

Capital flows have also shown improvement. Last Thursday, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net inflow of approximately $160 million, reversing two consecutive days of capital outflows. The renewed influx of institutional funds helped reinforce BTC's upward momentum after breaking above $80,000. Meanwhile, the forced liquidation of a large volume of short positions further amplified short-term gains.

Ethereum's rebound was equally noticeable. ETH briefly fell to near $2,360 last week before sequentially reclaiming $2,500 and $2,600, and breaking back above $2,700 today. On September 18, Ethereum recorded a single-day gain of over 6%, demonstrating that the current capital inflow is gradually spreading from Bitcoin to major altcoins.

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