Crypto markets, explained
How prices are set, where the money comes from, and how crypto has behaved next to gold, stocks and interest rates. Dated, sourced figures and no predictions.
How the market works
How crypto markets workMost crypto is traded on exchanges that keep an order book: a list of offers to buy (bids) and sell (asks).Crypto derivatives: perpetuals, funding rates and optionsCrypto derivatives are contracts that track a coin's price.Bitcoin dominance and "altcoin season" explainedBitcoin dominance is Bitcoin's share of the total crypto market cap: Bitcoin's market cap divided by the market cap of all coins combined.Crypto market cycles, sentiment and the Fear and Greed IndexCrypto prices have moved in big boom-and-bust cycles: Bitcoin has fallen more than 75% from its peak four times.
Money flowing in
The stablecoin market: size, structure and risksStablecoins are crypto tokens designed to stay at $1.Institutional adoption: ETF flows and corporate bitcoin treasuriesOn November 3, 2026, US spot Bitcoin ETFs held about $99 billion of bitcoin (roughly 6.3% of its market value), after $56.5 billion of net inflows since January 2024, according to SoSoValue.
Crypto against other assets
Bitcoin vs. gold: what the data showsFrom January 2015 to April 2026, bitcoin grew far more than gold ($100 became about $29,518 versus about $377, on monthly averages) but with about 6 times the volatility and falls of over 75%.Bitcoin vs. the S&P 500: what the data showsFrom January 2015 to April 2026, on monthly averages, $100 in bitcoin grew to about $29,518 and $100 in the S&P 500 to about $343, but bitcoin was about 5.5 times as volatile and fell over 75% from its peaks.Crypto, interest rates, inflation and the dollarBitcoin has not behaved like a reliable inflation hedge: when US inflation peaked at 9.1% in 2022, it fell about two-thirds.
Related guides and tools
Crypto market cap explainedMarket cap, FDV, volume and liquidity.Crypto futures explainedCME futures, perpetuals, margin and month codes.How to read a crypto chartCandlesticks, timeframes and moving averages.Market cap calculatorPrice × circulating supply, with live data.Percentage change calculatorGains, losses and the recovery you'd need.