Top Cryptocurrencies Rise; Bitcoin Tops $81,000 Level

03:56 PM EDT, 09/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Major digital assets rose Friday, with Bitcoin (BTC-USD) topping the $81,000 level. The CoinDesk Market Index, which tracks dozens of digital assets including Bitcoin, rose 7.5% in the past 24 hours. The Nasdaq 100 was up 0.4%, the S&P 500 added 0.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 0.1%. Bitcoin gained 6.3% to $81,281, according to CoinMarketCap data. The most popular cryptocurrency's 24-hour trading volume surged 63.3% to $38.22 billion. Ethereum (ETH-USD), the second-largest digital asset by market value, rose 8% to $2,641. XRP (XRP-USD) gained 8.6%, BNB (BNB-USD) rose 5.1%, and Solana (SOL-USD) surged 13.1%. Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) advanced 7.9%, while Cardano (ADA-USD) increased 10.6%. The total market value of the cryptocurrency industry rose 5.8% in the past 24 hours to $2.77 trillion, with trading volume gaining 44% to $111 billion. Price: 81291.18, Change: +4940.50, Percent Change: +6.47