Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Key Takeaways On September 16, the FCA released comprehensive guidance detailing which cryptocurrency operations require authorization under Britain’s forthcoming regulatory structure The application window opens September 30, while the complete regulatory framework becomes operational October 25, 2027 Current registrations and existing permissions won’t automatically transfer into the new authorization system Companies wanting transitional accommodations face a February 28, 2027 application deadline International operators, including American firms with UK clientele, may require FCA authorization Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority unveiled comprehensive guidance on September 16, clarifying which cryptocurrency business activities will require formal authorization when the country’s new regulatory framework launches in October 2027.

9 of Top 10 UK Retail Banks Block or Limit Crypto Transactions

UK retail banks will not be forced to lift blanket restrictions on payments routed to cryptocurrency exchanges even after the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) comprehensive crypto regulatory regime takes effect in… pic.twitter.com/Zc2THLXHN6

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 16, 2026

The regulatory guidance encompasses numerous business activities, including stablecoin issuance, operating digital asset exchanges, dealing in cryptocurrencies, facilitating transactions, providing cryptoasset custody services, and administering staking programs.

According to the FCA, companies cannot simply depend on their own business descriptions. The regulator will evaluate authorization needs based on the actual functions and services a firm provides.

Current Licenses Won’t Automatically Transfer A critical consideration for companies currently operating in Britain: existing FCA registrations and regulatory permissions won’t automatically migrate to the new authorization framework.

Businesses registered under Britain’s anti-money laundering regulations must also undergo the new authorization procedure. Those existing registrations serve a more limited purpose and won’t satisfy requirements under the forthcoming framework.

Organizations holding different regulatory authorizations may need to request permission modifications if they intend to conduct regulated cryptocurrency activities.

“Preparing for regulation begins with comprehending how this framework impacts your operations,” stated David Geale, who serves as the FCA’s executive director overseeing consumers, payments and competition.

Critical Dates for Crypto Businesses The application portal launches September 30, providing businesses more than a year for preparation before the framework’s October 25, 2027 implementation date.

However, organizations seeking transitional arrangements must meet an earlier February 28, 2027 submission deadline. Failing to meet this date could result in forfeiting access to transitional provisions.

The FCA completed the majority of its regulatory package in June after multiple industry consultation rounds. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 received Parliamentary approval in February.

The finalized regulations address stablecoin reserve requirements and redemptions, cryptocurrency custody standards, operational resilience expectations, consumer protection measures, and capital adequacy requirements. Additional regulations tackle token listing procedures and misconduct prevention on trading platforms.

The FCA intends to seek feedback on modifications concerning stablecoins, proprietary trading operations, market making activities, and certain technology service providers in October. Decentralized protocol frameworks and specific custody structures will undergo additional examination.

International Firms Face Requirements American companies serving British clients or conducting operations in the UK market may need FCA authorization, regardless of existing US licensing.

Regulatory approval from the SEC, CFTC, or state-level authorities doesn’t substitute for FCA authorization when conducting regulated activities in Britain. The United States and United Kingdom are following distinct timelines with separate legislative frameworks.

During September, the House of Lords approved an amendment by a 194 to 138 margin mandating the Treasury publish a comprehensive national digital asset strategy within twelve months of the Financial Services and Markets Bill’s enactment.

The FCA and Bank of England additionally plan to release a tokenization roadmap for wholesale financial markets before year’s end.

A software company that pivoted to hoarding Bitcoin now moves more shares per day than the investment vehicle built by the most famous investor alive. Strategy Inc., the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, has surpassed Berkshire Hathaway in daily trading volume, a development that would have sounded like satire five years ago.

The crossover first occurred in late December 2025 and has persisted into 2026, with MSTR frequently ranking among the most actively traded stocks on US exchanges. On certain days in August 2026, the stock traded between 46 and 49 million shares, generating up to $4.4B in daily turnover and landing as the 10th-most active US equity.

From enterprise software to Bitcoin treasury By mid-2026, Strategy held more than 800,000 BTC on its balance sheet. To put that in perspective, that’s roughly 4% of all the Bitcoin that will ever exist, concentrated in a single publicly traded company. The firm accumulated this position through a series of aggressive capital raises, including billions raised through preferred equity offerings designed specifically to fund additional Bitcoin purchases.

The result is a stock that now outpaces not just Berkshire Hathaway but also major financial institutions like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in daily trading volume. At various points, MSTR has ranked between the 25th and 27th most-traded US equity.

Why volume matters High volume in MSTR reflects several overlapping dynamics. First, the stock’s tight correlation with Bitcoin means it attracts activity whenever crypto markets move. Second, Strategy’s capital structure amplifies this effect. The company has raised billions through various equity and debt instruments to buy more Bitcoin, which increases the float and gives more traders access to shares. Short interest has also contributed to elevated turnover, as bearish bets require borrowing and returning shares, adding layers of trading activity on top of organic buying and selling.

Third, there’s the index and ETF effect. As MSTR’s market cap and trading volume have grown, it has attracted inclusion in various indices and become a core holding in several thematic ETFs, creating a self-reinforcing cycle where passive fund flows add to the volume generated by active traders.

For now, the volume numbers tell a clear story. Investors, whether they’re bullish, bearish, or simply trading the volatility, can’t stop watching MSTR. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was built to be the kind of stock you buy and forget about. Michael Saylor’s Strategy was built to be the kind of stock you can’t look away from. The trading volume reflects exactly that difference.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Bitcoin’s on-chain data is telling a story that runs counter to the doom-and-gloom mood hanging over crypto markets. A CryptoQuant Quicktake report published on September 17, authored by contributor Crypto Dan, finds that the percentage of Bitcoin UTXOs currently sitting at a loss has dropped sharply, a pattern that has historically marked the tail end of bear cycles rather than the beginning of new ones.

A Fed rate hike, the first since 2023, and the US Senate’s narrow rejection of the CLARITY Act just two days earlier have given traders plenty of reasons to fret. But CryptoQuant’s conclusion is straightforward: structural improvements on the Bitcoin network outweigh those macro pressures, making a full return to bear market territory unlikely.

What the UTXO data actually shows UTXOs, or unspent transaction outputs, are essentially the building blocks of Bitcoin’s ledger. Think of them as individual coins sitting in wallets, each carrying the price at which they were last moved. When a large share of UTXOs are “in loss,” meaning the current price is below the price at which those coins last changed hands, it signals widespread pain across the network.

The key finding in Crypto Dan’s analysis is that this “in loss” percentage has been falling significantly. That matters because, historically, a rapid decline in UTXOs sitting at a loss has coincided with the transition from bearish to bullish market regimes.

The report doesn’t cite specific price targets, but the directional signal is clear: the network’s structural health is improving in ways that have reliably preceded bullish phases in prior cycles.

Macro headwinds haven’t gone away The Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates, its first hike since 2023, has tightened financial conditions at a moment when risk assets could use some breathing room.

The US Senate voted 49-50 against the CLARITY Act on September 15, a procedural failure that dealt a blow to hopes for comprehensive crypto legislation. The bill had been positioned as a framework for classifying digital assets, and its defeat leaves the industry in the same regulatory gray zone it has occupied for years.

CryptoQuant acknowledges both of these headwinds. But the report’s central argument is that on-chain dynamics tend to exert more influence over Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory than short-lived economic or political events.

CryptoQuant’s evolving stance This report represents a meaningful shift in CryptoQuant’s own positioning. The analytics firm had confirmed bear market conditions in late 2025, a call that proved well-timed as Bitcoin struggled through a prolonged downturn. The transition from that bearish stance to a more optimistic outlook has been gradual, unfolding over the course of mid-to-late 2026 as on-chain metrics steadily improved.

The analytical framework here prioritizes blockchain-native signals over external catalysts. The primary signal is what’s happening on-chain: who’s holding, who’s selling, and how much of the network is in financial distress.

What this means for the market For investors, the UTXO analysis offers a data-driven counterpoint to the anxiety created by the Fed and the Senate. It doesn’t guarantee a rally, and it doesn’t eliminate the risk of short-term drawdowns. What it does suggest is that the foundation for sustained downside, the kind of widespread holder distress that fuels extended bear markets, is eroding.

Traders navigating this environment face a classic tension between time horizons. Short-term, the macro picture is messy. A rate hike cycle creates overhead resistance, and the CLARITY Act’s failure means regulatory clarity remains elusive. Longer-term, the on-chain data paints a more constructive picture, with the network shedding the distress that characterized the bear phase. The wild card is whether this cycle’s macro environment, specifically a tightening Fed, creates enough gravitational pull to overwhelm the on-chain improvements. CryptoQuant is betting it won’t.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Bitcoin's reaction may depend less on this rate hike and more on whether the Fed continues tightening monetary policy.

Bitcoin and crypto markets turned volatile on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points. The Fed lifted its target range to 3.75%-4%. The move was widely expected, but BTC still briefly dropped below $75,000 before recovering to around $76,400.

Analysts remain divided on what could come next.

BTC Recovers After Fed Shock Doctor Profit dismissed the bearish reaction. According to the analyst, Bitcoin’s bottom was already in at $57,000. He also said he is holding the BTC he bought between $60,000 and $64,000 and has no plans to sell. Earlier, the market commentator had pointed to $71,000 as the market’s “max pain” level while maintaining a bullish outlook toward $88,000.

Meanwhile, Ali Martinez also said he is prepared for another sell-off. While identifying Bitcoin’s Short-Term Holder Realized Price near $71,200 as a major level to watch, the analyst explained that he would consider that area a potential accumulation zone if BTC falls further.

Santiment, on the other hand, flagged a sharp rise in social discussions around the FOMC, interest rates, and the 25-basis-point move as the meeting approached. Bitcoin was already facing several pressures before the rate decision.

The crypto asset’s price pulled back after the previous day’s CLARITY Act setback. ETF outflows, higher Treasury yields, and liquidations had also added to the pressure. The bigger issue now is whether this rate hike remains an isolated move or becomes the start of another tightening cycle. The Fed’s latest projections point to at least one more hike in 2026. That keeps future policy decisions in focus for crypto traders.

One More Hike Remains in Focus Santiment noted that traders had recently considered much more aggressive rate-hike scenarios. The latest projections provide a less aggressive baseline, with another 25-basis-point move effectively at the center of the current outlook.

You may also like: Why XRP Was Hit Hardest After the CLARITY Act Senate Failure Analyst Says This Setup Could Send Bitcoin Above $90K by November Bitcoin Stays Stuck as Traders Wait for the Fed’s Next Move For Bitcoin, the next phase will therefore be about expectations around future Fed policy. Softer inflation, lower energy prices, or weaker economic data could change those expectations. However, persistent inflation could push them in the opposite direction.

“The bullish case is that traders had already priced a much uglier path, the first hike is now behind us, and one additional move may prove manageable if inflation finally begins cooling. For crypto, the direction of expectations from here could matter far more than the 25 basis points that just arrived.”

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Leading cryptocurrencies lifted late on Wednesday after a House Committee moved forward with a bill to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

Crypto Market’s Late RallyBitcoin surged late in the evening as the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill passed the House Financial Services Committee for congressional consideration. Ethereum and other altcoins also recorded a spike.

Cryptocurrency-related stocks also fell, with Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) and Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BMNR) closing down 2.64% and 3.35%, respectively. 

Over $330 million was liquidated from the cryptocurrency market in the last 24 hours, with $185 million in bearish short bets evaporated, according to Coinglass data.

Bitcoin’s open interest rose 0.68% over the last 24 hours, in line with the spot price increase. Smart money sentiment, which refers to the collective outlook and capital allocation of institutional investors, turned "extremely bullish."

Top Gainers (24 Hours) 

Cryptocurrency market capitalization sits at $2.58 trillion after a 0.79% drop in the last 24 hours.

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Stocks Slide After Rate HikeThe stock market sank deeper on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 631.21 points, or 1.21%, to close at 51,461.90. The S&P 500 fell 0.45% to end at 7,551.81, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.01% lower at 25,978.42.

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As widely expected, the Fed raised the federal funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%, marking its first rate hike since 2023.

The Federal Open Market Committee noted “elevated” inflation in its policy statement.

What’s the Next ‘Major’ Accumulation Zone?Ali Martinez, a widely followed cryptocurrency analyst and trader, said they’re not panicking due to the rate hike. Instead, they viewed the Short-Term Holder Realized Price near $71,200 as the “next major accumulation zone.”

“If the market gives me that opportunity, I’ll be ready,” he added.

On-chain analytics firm Santiment noted that crowd sentiment for BTC has moved from “FOMO” back into “Fear.”

“But when expectations become this one-sided, remember that markets typically always move in the opposite direction of the extreme group-think,” the firm added.

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The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday, its first hike since 2023. Bitcoin (BTC) climbed anyway, defying the old assumption that tighter policy always hurts risk assets.

Markets had priced in the move for days. That gap between expectation and reaction explains most of Wednesday’s price action, though it is not the whole story.

The Rate Hike Was Already Priced InInterest rate futures put the odds of a hike at 92.7% just hours before the FOMC decision, according to BeInCrypto. Traders had already positioned for it well in advance.

Bitcoin dropped to around $75,350 shortly before the decision, then jumped past $76,100 within minutes of the release. It went as high as $76,500 after the markets closed in the US, to then settled near $76,138.

BTC saw some volatility after the hike but has mostly trended upward. Image Source: CoinGeckoResearch on past Fed cycles describes something similar. Traders who adjust positions before an announcement often barely react to the actual decision, sometimes even bouncing higher instead.

A Hawkish Surprise Would Have Hurt MoreScott Melker, host of Yahoo Finance’s Daily Wolf, argued a credible, one-time hike could calm long-term yields rather than spook markets. The condition was that Chair Kevin Warsh avoided signaling a longer tightening cycle.

Updated Fed projections show 16 of 18 officials now expect another hike before year-end, up sharply from nine in June. Yet the committee’s decision passed by a unanimous 12-0 vote, with the statement itself striking a measured tone.

Gold moved in a similar pattern. Spot prices spiked toward $4,360 right after the release, then sold off to settle between $4,280 and $4,300. The round trip points to quick profit-taking rather than genuine alarm.

Gold fell, then rose again, suggesting profit-taking rather than fear. Image Source: Trading EconomicsCrypto-Specific Drivers Are Doing the Heavy LiftingThe Fed is not the only force moving prices this week. Bitcoin and XRP were already sliding after the CLARITY Act’s failure in the Senate, a bill meant to settle which federal regulator polices digital assets.

That setback alone wiped out more than $300 million in leveraged positions. Bitcoin and Ether ETFs then lost a combined $592 million to withdrawals on September 15, their worst single day of outflows in months.

Meanwhile, the broader top-10 board looked mixed rather than uniformly bullish. Zcash (ZEC) rallied more than 20% over seven days while XRP slipped, a reminder that altcoin-specific narratives can override the macro backdrop entirely.

With 16 policymakers still eyeing another hike this year, the next real test for crypto may not be the Fed’s next meeting. It may be whether the CLARITY Act debate reopens before then.

Disclaimer

This Analysis reflects BeInCrypto's editorial interpretation of information and data available at publication and may become outdated. It is general and non-personalised, does not consider your circumstances, and is not investment research, financial, investment, legal or tax advice, an offer or a recommendation. Forecasts, targets, technical analysis and forward-looking statements are uncertain and may not materialise; past performance and indicators do not predict future results. References to assets, products or providers do not imply endorsement. Crypto-assets and financial products may result in total loss. Verify material information before acting.

Several altcoins have marked major gains today, which is rather unexpected given yesterday's rate hike and CLARITY Act's failure.

Bitcoin’s expected price volatility ahead of and after the FOMC meeting indeed took place, with the asset posting a few major moves, but it has overall survived the first rate hike in three years, currently trading above $76,000.

The altcoins are also well in the green today, with SOL touching $100 and ZEC exploding by over 14%.

BTC Above $76K as the Dust Settles The current business week was expected to be a big one for the cryptocurrency industry, and it was quite eventful, even though it’s far from over. At the end of the previous one, BTC plunged to $76,000 after the release of the CPI data, before it suddenly rocketed to almost $80,000, where it was rejected and driven south to $77,000. It spent the weekend there and dipped again on Monday to $76,500.

However, the bulls went on the offensive later that day and pushed the cryptocurrency to $79,500. Another rejection followed as the market braced for the upcoming cloture vote on the CLARITY Act. The Senate vote ultimately failed, and BTC went from $77,250 to a month low of $75,000 in minutes.

It recovered to $76,000 on Wednesday as all eyes turned to the Fed. For the first time in three years, the US central bank raised the rates unanimously with a 12-0 vote. At first, BTC dipped to $75,000 before it shot up by $1,500. It failed there again, slipping by a grand before it rebounded and now sits at $76,500.

Its market cap has recovered to $1.530 trillion on CMC, while its dominance over the alts has retreated slightly to 58.7%.

BTCUSD September 17. Source: TradingView ZEC Flies Again Ethereum is up by just over 1.5% daily and sits close to $2,450. BNB has posted a similar increase, currently trading at $725. SOL has neared $100, while XRP, TRX, HYPE, DOGE, and LINK are also in the green. ZEC stands in a league of its own again. The privacy token has rocketed by over 14% and now trades above $1,350. In contrast, RAIN has plummeted by nearly 8%.

NEAR, CRO, PUMP, UNI, CC, DOT, ENA, and ONDO are well in the green among the larger-cap alts, with gains of up to 14.6% in the case of NEAR.

The total crypto market cap has increased by over 1% daily, and it’s up to $2.610 trillion on CMC.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview September 17. Source: QuantifyCrypto Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Solana, XRP, Bitcoin and Tron signal key support tests amid August rally fades

Russia’s largest Moscow stock exchange (MOEX) plans to launch Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP and TRON (TRX) perpetual futures next week. This comes following Russia President Vladimir Putin signed crypto law to allowed regulated crypto trading.

Russia’s Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX) Joins Crypto Perpetual Futures Push Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX), Russia’s largest stock exchange, will launch perpetual futures linked to its Bitcoin, ETH, SOL, XRP and TRX indices on September 22. This marks a groundbreaking development amid a rise in crypto demand in the country.

While it is not a green light for spot crypto trading, the contracts are quoted in US dollars, settled in Russian rubles, and limited to qualified investors. It added that the delivery is not in the underlying crypto assets.

“The launch of perpetual digital currency futures is an important milestone in the development of the Russian derivatives market. We see strong investor demand for digital asset derivatives. Providing access to such instruments within the Russian legal framework is crucial,” a statement reads.

Moscow Stock Exchange already offers monthly and other cash-settled crypto derivatives since last year. The crypto products recorded more than 72,000 traders and total transaction volume exceeded 600 billion rubles.

As CoinGape reported earlier, Russia’s crypto law took effect earlier this month. It legalized licensed crypto trading, custody, and select cross-border settlements.

Bitcoin, ETH, SOL, XRP and TRON Prices Jump Crypto prices have bounced despite the US Fed raising rates by 25 bps. This indicates confidence in the crypto industry over an upcoming rally in the coming weeks. Bitcoin jumped more than 1%, with the price currently trading around $76,600. Trading volume dropped as the CLARITY Act failed to secure Senate votes.

On the other hand, ETH is trading strongly compared to Bitcoin. The price surged more than 2% to $2,450 over the past 24 hours. Solana (SOL) also trades more than 3% higher, rebounding above $100 again.

Meanwhile, XRP price has reclaimed $1.30 after an almost 1% jump. The 24-hour low and high are $1.25 and $1.31, respectively. However, trading volume decreased by 38% in the last 24 hours, indicating traders remains cautious.

TRX price trades near $0.335, moving mostly sideways. Justin Sun’s TRON token has rallied 20% this year, holdings gains amid upgrades and ETF launches.

While Moscow Stock Exchange’s contracts are cash-settled and restricted to qualified domestic investors, retail traders looking to speculate on digital asset price action typically turn to the best crypto futures trading platforms which offer direct token exposure and flexible margin terms.

Bitcoin’s price swung before settling largely unmoved over a 24-hour period after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates — as expected — for the first time since 2023. 

The leading cryptocurrency was recently priced at nearly $75,813 after dropping as low as $75,355 in the hour after the U.S. central bank gave its decision to increase the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%. 

Over a seven-day period, the coin is down nearly 4%. 

Traders had bet there was a more than 90% chance that the Fed would raise interest rates ahead of its September meeting. Major Bitcoin trades therefore likely happened before Wednesday. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh didn’t reveal much about the central bank’s next moves but made it clear that price stability in the U.S. was its number one priority. 

“The decision we made today was a sober decision, serious decision, responsible decision, one that we have been preparing for and thinking about in my 110 or 120 days here,” Warsh said. 

He added: “The plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long. This summer’s inflation readings do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.”

Wash — who has previously praised Bitcoin — said last month in his first major speech as head of the U.S. central bank that inflation was too high and had to be brought down. 

The new chair is seemingly going against President Donald Trump’s wishes; the president has repeatedly called for lower interest rates and even threatened to fire the ex-Chair of the Federal Reserve for refusing to do so. 

In a post on his Truth Social platform last week, the president wrote: “We should have the LOWEST RATE of any country in the World, like ‘the old days.'”

When asked by reporters about what he would say to the president, Wash replied: “I’ve got nothing for you on a discussion with the president.”

Bitcoin typically does well in a low interest rate environment because there is more liquidity to buy the asset. 

The U.S. is currently in the midst of an affordability crisis and war in the Middle East has pushed up the price of oil, in turn compounding the problem as the cost of everyday goods in the world’s largest economy rises.

Mathew Di Salvo

Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.

<span class="acf-media-credit"><span class="acf-credit"><span class="acf-credit"><a href="theblock.co" target="_blank">The Block</a></span></span><span class="acf-credit"> | <span class="acf-credit"><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-black-and-white-photo-of-rocks-and-water-Wghw2xq8kQg?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash" target="_blank"> Lizgrin F</a></span></span><span class="acf-credit"> | <span class="acf-credit"><a href="https://by-michael.xyz/" target="_blank">Illustration by Michael Elshahat for The Block</a></span></span></span>

Bitcoin and ether whipsawed on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve unanimously raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point, the central bank's first rate hike in more than three years.

Bitcoin (BTC) traded between roughly $75,000 and $76,500 immediately following the decision and was changing hands near $75,600 at the time of publication. Ether (ETH) swung between about $2,370 and $2,430 before settling near the lower end of the range at $2,376.

Bitcoin (BTC) vs Ethereum (ETH) price chart. Source: The Block/Crypto Compare The Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to raise its target range for the federal funds rate to 3.75%-4%. The move was the Fed's first hike since July 2023, when the Powell-led central bank raised rates 25 basis points to 5.25%-5.5%.

Wednesday's increase was mostly anticipated to be the case. In the hours leading up to the decision, CME FedWatch showed traders pricing in a 92% probability of a quarter-point hike, down slightly from around 96% a day earlier.

Hawkish Warsh Warsh was hawkish in his opening remarks, saying that the economy appears to be strengthening and that financial conditions are not particularly tight.

"I would be hard-pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive," Warsh said, adding that the view was widely shared by the committee. "So we removed a dose of accommodation."

The projections also suggest further tightening is on the table. Sixteen of 18 policymakers project at least one additional quarter-point hike this year.

The decision puts the Fed at odds with remarks made earlier this month by President Donald Trump, who said the U.S. should have the lowest interest rates in the world and threatened to stop trading with countries with trade deficits with the U.S. unless the Fed cuts rates.

Warsh was tight-lipped about those threats and about the president in general when asked about them during the question-and-answer portion of the conference.

Analyst outlooks Lewis Huang, an analyst at crypto exchange Bitget, said bitcoin could absorb more of the immediate shock than equities, noting that BTC moved roughly four times as much as the S&P 500 on the previous two FOMC trading days.

"The market had one hike priced, and the dots have given it a sequence," Huang said.

However, he argued that the path to further tightening could be tested if inflation pressure is tested by energy. He cited gasoline prices rising nearly 4% in a month and diesel climbing 60% to an all-time high, arguing that those pressures could unwind quicker than inflation.

That creates a risk, Huang said, "that the Fed is still tightening after the original energy impulse has begun to fade."

Elsewhere in crypto, the immediate reaction was mostly muted. Most top-20 cryptocurrencies were roughly flat or up 0.5% following the meeting. XRP (XRP) gained about 1.5%, and Solana (SOL) rose 1%, while Zcash (ZEC) stood out with a 6.5% gain.

Editorial Note

Zoomex’s TradFi Zone includes a set of ETF-linked perpetual contracts alongside its single-stock and commodity lineup, giving users USDT-margined exposure to broad index, sector, and leveraged ETF products through the same interface used for crypto derivatives.

What an ETF perpetual isA traditional ETF gives investors diversified exposure to an index or sector without picking individual stocks. It trades on an exchange during market hours, settles in fiat, and is bought and sold as a share.

An ETF perpetual contract references the same underlying product but works differently in three respects. It has no expiry, so a position can be held as long as margin requirements are met. It is margined and settled in USDT rather than fiat, which means no currency conversion and no separate brokerage account. And it trades continuously rather than during exchange hours.

That last difference is the practical one. A traditional ETF position cannot be adjusted when the underlying market is closed, which covers roughly two-thirds of every week once evenings and weekends are counted. A perpetual contract referencing the same ETF can be opened, adjusted, or closed at any point.

The trade-off is that a perpetual contract is a derivative, not ownership of the underlying fund. It carries funding payments, margin requirements, and liquidation risk that a spot ETF holding does not.

The contracts availableZoomex’s ETF perpetual lineup covers several distinct types of exposure.

Broad market index. SPYUSDT references the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, the most widely held ETF tracking the S&P 500, and gives exposure to the broad US large-cap market in a single contract. QQQUSDT references the Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the Nasdaq 100 and carries a heavier weighting toward technology than the S&P 500.

Small-cap exposure. IWMUSDT references the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, tracking US small-cap equities. Small caps historically behave differently from large caps across the economic cycle, which is why the contract sits in the lineup as separate exposure rather than as a variation on SPY.

Sector-specific. XLFUSDT references the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund, covering banks, insurers, and other financial companies. XLKUSDT references the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund, covering the technology names within the S&P 500. Sector contracts let users take a position on a specific part of the market rather than the index as a whole.

Leveraged. TQQQUSDT references ProShares UltraPro QQQ, a 3x leveraged product tracking the Nasdaq 100. Because the underlying ETF is already leveraged, price movement in this contract is amplified relative to QQQ before any additional leverage a user applies on the platform. It is the highest-risk instrument in the group and behaves differently over multi-day holding periods than an unleveraged product, due to the compounding effects inherent to leveraged ETFs.

Source: ZoomexHow the contracts work on ZoomexAll ETF perpetuals run on the same infrastructure as Zoomex’s crypto perpetuals. There is no separate account, no different interface, and no distinct onboarding flow. Users search the ticker under the TradFi category and open a position the same way they would on any crypto pair.

Contracts are USDT-margined and support both cross and isolated margin modes. Published contract specifications cover leverage caps, tick size, funding rate schedule, and margin requirements, each visible before a position is opened rather than disclosed afterward.

Funding is exchanged at fixed intervals, following the same mechanics that apply to the platform’s crypto perpetuals. Because these contracts track assets that trade on traditional exchanges during limited hours, pricing outside those hours reflects the market’s ongoing assessment rather than a quoted exchange price, which is worth understanding before holding a position across a weekend.

Positions can be opened long or short. The ability to take a short position without a margin account at a traditional broker is one of the structural differences between an ETF perpetual and a conventional ETF holding.

Risk considerationsETF perpetuals carry the risks common to all leveraged derivatives. Positions can be liquidated if margin requirements are not met, and losses can exceed initial expectations in fast-moving conditions. Funding payments accrue over time and affect the cost of holding a position.

Leveraged ETF products such as TQQQ carry additional considerations. A 3x leveraged ETF is designed to deliver three times the daily return of its index, not three times the return over longer periods. Over multi-day holding periods, compounding means the realised return can diverge meaningfully from three times the index’s move over the same window, particularly in volatile or range-bound conditions. Users considering positions in leveraged ETF perpetuals should understand this behaviour before holding across multiple sessions.

Zoomex publishes contract parameters, funding schedules, and liquidation mechanics for every contract in the TradFi Zone. Users should review these before opening a position, and treat position sizing as a function of account balance rather than of available leverage.

Why ETF perpetuals fit the Zoomex modelETF perpetuals extend the same logic that underpins the rest of Zoomex’s TradFi Zone. The exchange has not pivoted away from crypto derivatives to chase traditional markets; it has extended the same derivatives engine, matching logic, and risk controls that already serve its crypto perpetuals to a wider set of underlying assets.

For users, that consistency is the point. The same margin mechanics, the same order types, the same risk tools, and the same published rules apply whether a position references Bitcoin or the S&P 500. A user who already understands how a crypto perpetual behaves on the platform does not need to learn a second system to take a position on an index.

Access follows the same Fair Access & Rule-Based Execution framework applied across the product suite. Contracts are not gated behind separate onboarding or tiered eligibility, and execution logic applies identically regardless of position size.

About ZoomexFounded in 2021, Zoomex is a global cryptocurrency trading platform focused on derivatives trading. The platform serves over 3 million users across 35+ countries and regions, offering access to 700+ trading pairs. Built around ease of use, transparency, fairness, and speed, Zoomex provides a clear and efficient trading experience for users worldwide.

Through its high-performance matching engine, clear asset and order displays, and transparent fee and rule mechanisms, Zoomex helps users better understand their account status, order execution, trading costs, and results. Zoomex maintains registrations, licenses, and regulatory statuses across multiple jurisdictions, including the U.S. MSB, Canada MSB, U.S. NFA, and Australia AUSTRAC, and has completed security audits conducted by blockchain security firm Hacken. The platform also continues to strengthen its trust framework through Proof of Reserves, Security & Transparency, Compliance Information, and Fees / Rules Transparency initiatives.

Beyond trading, Zoomex builds a refined brand experience through elite sports partnerships, including the TGR Haas F1 Team, World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, and world-class tennis events such as Wimbledon. The values of speed, precision, discipline, fair play, and rule-based execution are closely aligned with Zoomex’s approach to derivatives trading.

At Zoomex: Easy to Use. Transparent balance. Fair access to your earnings.

ZoomexFounded in 2021, Zoomex is a global crypto exchange serving 3M+ users with 600+ trading pairs. Guided by the values of "Simple, User-Friendly, and Fast," Zoomex leverages a high-performance engine to ensure a fair, just, and transparent trading environment where every transaction is fully traceable and unbiased. With MSB (U.S./Canada), NFA, and AUSTRAC licenses and audits by Hacken, Zoomex provides institutional-grade security. Partnered with TGR Haas F1 Team and Emiliano Martínez, the platform mirrors elite precision and consistency, delivering a secure, low-barrier, and compliant ecosystem for traders worldwide.

51 contributions

Disclaimer

This third-party press release is published substantially as received and does not reflect BeInCrypto's editorial views. BeInCrypto has not independently verified its claims or assessed the suitability, legality or appropriateness of any referenced asset, product or service; publication is not an endorsement. The content is general information, not investment research, financial, investment, legal or tax advice, a personal recommendation, offer or solicitation. Verify all information and seek professional advice where appropriate before acting. Crypto-assets may result in total loss.

Peter Schiff says the bond market didn't break recently, it broke in 2020, and everything since has been a slow unwind.

Peter Schiff says the bond market didn’t break recently, it broke in 2020, and everything since has been a slow unwind. Across this conversation with Grace Remington and Sean Hagan, he connects rising Treasury yields, the Fed’s expected rate decision, the dollar’s loss of purchasing power, and the central bank rush into gold. He argues that a stock selloff driven by higher rates would be deeply bearish for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market, and that political capital in Washington has already turned against it. The episode ends with Schiff and the hosts going head to head on whether anything actually backs Bitcoin.

00:00 — Peter Schiff says the bond market already broke in 2020
01:44 — How long the Treasury bear market could realistically last
04:18 — What Schiff would enact to actually bring inflation down
06:32 — Spending cuts, higher rates, and the recession nobody will accept
07:39 — Are we in the early stages of a dollar crisis?
08:26 — Rate hike odds and whether Warsh surprises the market
10:51 — Why Schiff calls it a cosmetic hike with no credibility behind it
12:33 — Why gold ran to 5,500 while Bitcoin lagged 23% off its highs
14:20 — Bitcoin priced in gold and the case that it peaked in 2021
17:29 — Tokenized gold vs Bitcoin: counterparty risk and what backs money

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BTC Inc., Bitcoin Magazine, or any affiliated entities. This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Nothing contained in this show constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments. Viewers should consult their own advisors before making financial or business decisions.

Patrick Green

Patrick Green is an Assistant Producer and Channel Manager on the multimedia team at Bitcoin Magazine, focusing on production, content distribution, and channel strategy across the network.

Bitcoin price traded near $76,200 after a volatile week as the failed CLARITY Act vote and the Federal Reserve’s rate increase kept pressure on the market. Technical indicators now point to resistance near $78,600, while liquidation data places the main downside liquidity cluster around $74,600.

Summary

Bitcoin price fell roughly 4% over seven days after briefly approaching $80,000. The daily CMF dropped to -0.11, indicating that capital outflows have overtaken inflows. 4-hour resistance sits near $78,600, while the RSI remains below the neutral 50 level. Liquidation clusters near $74,600 and $77,700 could shape Bitcoin’s next move. Bitcoin price retreats after rejection near $80,000 According to data from crypto.news, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading near $76,236 at the time of writing, according to the daily chart. The cryptocurrency had recovered from an intraday low of $75,065 after opening the session around $75,644.

BTC has lost roughly 4% over the past seven days after failing to hold an advance toward $80,000. Price briefly reached approximately $79,800 on Sep. 11 before sellers regained control, sending it as low as $74,944 on Sep. 15.

The weekly decline followed the U.S. Senate’s failure to advance the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. The procedural measure received 50 votes in favor and 49 against but needed 60 votes to move forward.

The proposed legislation sought to define how the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission would divide oversight of digital assets. Its failure reduced the prospect of Congress establishing a federal crypto market structure before the November midterm elections.

Macroeconomic conditions added to the pressure. The Federal Reserve raised its target rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75% to 4.00% on Sep. 16, delivering its first increase since 2023.

Bitcoin briefly reacted to the widely expected decision but remained close to its four-week low. Higher rates can reduce demand for non-yielding and risk-sensitive assets by raising returns available from government debt and strengthening the U.S. dollar.

Daily Bitcoin indicators show weakening demand The daily chart shows BTC trading below its 20-day simple moving average at $78,104. Reclaiming that level would be an early sign that buyers are regaining short-term control.

Bitcoin price daily chart — Sep. 16 | Source: crypto.news Bitcoin remains above the other major averages shown on the chart. The 50-day SMA stands near $71,933, while the 200-day and 100-day averages sit around $70,320 and $67,639, respectively.

The distance between the current price and those longer-term averages means the wider recovery from Bitcoin’s summer lows has not yet broken down. However, failure to recover the 20-day average could expose the lower moving-average cluster between $70,300 and $71,900.

Chaikin Money Flow has fallen to -0.11 after spending much of late August and early September above zero. A negative CMF reading indicates that selling pressure has exceeded buying pressure over the indicator’s 20-period window.

The change is notable because the CMF weakened as Bitcoin retreated from the $80,000 area. A return above zero would signal improving capital flows, while a deeper negative reading would add weight to the bearish setup.

Bitcoin faces 4-hour resistance at $78,600 Bitcoin’s 4-hour chart keeps the short-term trend bearish. The Supertrend indicator has flipped above the price and now marks resistance near $78,597.

Bitcoin price 4-hour chart — Sep. 16 | Source: crypto.news BTC also trades below the indicator’s previous support line around $76,648. Bulls would need to reclaim that level before challenging the heavier resistance zone between $78,100 and $78,600.

The 4-hour Relative Strength Index stands at 43.01, slightly above its signal average of 42.54 but below the neutral 50 mark. The reading shows weak momentum without placing Bitcoin in oversold territory, leaving room for another decline if support fails.

Initial support sits between $75,000 and $75,500, covering the Sep. 15 low and the recent 4-hour range floor. A confirmed break below that area could send BTC toward the daily moving-average region near $71,900.

Crypto trader Daan Crypto Trades said Bitcoin was positioned near its August lows and the 4-hour 200-period moving averages after two major events dominated the previous week.

“Getting them out of the way, regardless of outcome, should make price action a bit less choppy,” the trader said.

A move through $78,600 would invalidate the immediate bearish Supertrend signal and place $80,000 back in focus. Failure to clear the indicator would preserve the pattern of lower highs visible since early September.

Liquidation heatmap puts $74,600 in focus CoinGlass’s three-day liquidation heatmap shows the largest nearby pool of leveraged positions around $74,600 to $74,700. The concentration sits below the recent low and could attract price if sellers push BTC beneath $75,000.

Bitcoin liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass Liquidity is also concentrated above the market. The closest large bands appear between approximately $76,600 and $76,900, followed by a stronger zone around $77,500 to $77,800.

Further clusters are visible near $78,300 and $80,000. A rebound through the closest overhead bands could force short liquidations and accelerate a move toward the 4-hour Supertrend resistance.

The heatmap does not predict direction, but it identifies areas where forced position closures could increase volatility. With liquidity sitting on both sides of the current price, BTC could continue to produce sharp moves until it closes outside the $74,600–$78,600 range.

Ali Martinez identified $71,200 as another downside area, based on Bitcoin’s short-term holder realized price. The metric represents the average acquisition price of coins held by newer investors and can act as an important level during market corrections.

Bitcoin therefore faces two distinct bearish targets if $75,000 breaks: the liquidation concentration near $74,600 and the broader cost-basis and moving-average region between $70,300 and $71,900. Bulls need a sustained recovery above $78,600 to weaken that downside case and reopen a path toward $80,000.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

A bill to formally establish a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve just cleared the House Financial Services Committee, moving one step closer to a full floor vote. The American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, or H.R. 8957, would place the Treasury Department in charge of managing the federal government’s Bitcoin holdings, with a mandatory 20-year holding period with no sales allowed.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) and co-led by Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), has attracted more than 20 bipartisan cosponsors. A full markup is scheduled for September 16, 2026, which could send it to the entire House for a vote.

What the bill actually does At its core, ARMA codifies something the federal government has been doing informally since President Trump’s 2025 executive order directing agencies to retain forfeited Bitcoin rather than auction it off. The bill turns that temporary directive into permanent law.

The reserve would primarily hold Bitcoin acquired through federal forfeitures. US agencies currently hold an estimated 328,372 BTC, valued somewhere between $25B and $30B. Under ARMA, that stash gets locked in for two decades. No selling. No swapping.

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The bill also creates a separate Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin digital assets. Bitcoin gets the strategic reserve treatment. Everything else gets its own bucket.

One provision worth noting: the act explicitly protects privately held Bitcoin. The government cannot seize Bitcoin from citizens to stock its reserve.

Transparency requirements and wash-sale rules The Treasury would be required to publish quarterly Proof-of-Reserve reports featuring cryptographic attestations of its holdings. Independent audits would supplement those reports.

The bill also extends wash-sale rules to crypto. Currently, these rules prevent stock traders from selling a security at a loss and immediately repurchasing it to claim a tax deduction. Crypto has existed in a gray area where traders could harvest tax losses without the same restrictions. ARMA closes that loophole, treating digital assets more like traditional securities for tax purposes.

Why this matters beyond symbolism The 20-year holding mandate is particularly significant for market dynamics. Locking 328,372 BTC away for two decades effectively removes roughly 1.5% of Bitcoin’s total 21 million cap from the market for a generation.

Executive orders can be reversed by the next administration. A statutory framework for Bitcoin reserves tells pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and corporate treasuries that the US government views Bitcoin as a long-term store of value worth managing formally.

The bill’s journey is far from over. Even if the full House passes it, Senate dynamics could slow or reshape the legislation considerably. And the wash-sale provision may attract opposition from crypto industry lobbyists who’ve benefited from the current tax treatment.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Washington’s ongoing efforts to regulate the digital asset sector encountered a setback as the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act. However, congressional momentum around a federal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve continues to build, with the House Financial Services Committee now reviewing legislation specific to government-held Bitcoin.

American Reserve Modernization Act Reaches CommitteeThe House Financial Services Committee has taken up H.R. 8957, known as the American Reserve Modernization Act. This bill aims to give legal structure to the proposed Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and set clear rules for how federal Bitcoin assets should be managed. Lawmakers introduced the proposal in May and subsequently sent it to the committee for review.

The introduction coincides with a significant moment in U.S. crypto policy, as just days earlier, the Senate narrowly failed to advance the digital asset-focused CLARITY Act, which fell one vote short of the 60 needed to proceed.

Government BTC Lockup and Transparency ProvisionsA central feature of the American Reserve Modernization Act is a mandatory 20-year holding period for Bitcoin stored in the federal reserve. This rule would restrict the government’s ability to rapidly sell or otherwise dispose of strategic BTC holdings.

Officials propose strict transparency, including detailed reporting and reserve management policies to ensure clear oversight of government Bitcoin.

Supporters argue that increased transparency around government Bitcoin reserves could benefit markets, as large federal BTC sales have historically caused concerns about downward price pressure.

Unlike some past legislative ideas, the bill stops short of requiring the Treasury to make large, immediate Bitcoin purchases. Instead, it focuses on managing and consolidating federal assets already held, while exploring ways to potentially acquire more Bitcoin in the future without raising taxes, increasing borrowing, or expanding the federal deficit.

By focusing on management rather than acquisitions, this bill stands in contrast to earlier reserve proposals that envisioned significant new government buying.

Mini dictionary: House Financial Services Committee – a U.S. congressional committee responsible for overseeing the financial services sector, including banking, insurance, real estate, and securities markets. It plays a key role in regulatory and legislative efforts affecting digital assets.

CLARITY Act Defeat, Market Volatility, and Focused LegislationThe Senate’s failure to move forward on the CLARITY Act, which proposed broad digital asset regulations, contributed to a rapid decline in Bitcoin’s price below $75,000. This market move triggered a wave of leveraged position unwinding, with approximately $300 million in crypto longs liquidated soon after the vote.

Traders closely tracked the outcome of the Senate vote, responding swiftly to signs of legislative uncertainty around digital asset regulation.

Unlike the sweeping scope of the CLARITY Act, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve proposal is more narrowly focused. Its provisions address only the federal government’s management and reporting of Bitcoin, steering clear of wider rules that would affect the entire cryptocurrency sector.

LegislationScopeCurrent StatusImpactAmerican Reserve Modernization ActFederal Bitcoin holdings and managementUnder review in House CommitteeCould limit government BTC sales for 20 yearsCLARITY ActBroad digital asset market frameworkFailed Senate procedural voteMarket drop, $300 million in liquidationsAs debate continues in Congress, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill remains under committee review, reflecting a more targeted approach to managing government-held crypto assets amid broader policy uncertainty.

The US House Financial Services Committee has voted to advance the unprecedented Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, now known as the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026 (H.R. 8957). Despite this development, the odds of the proposal becoming law by 2027 are now as low as 6%, down from a 60% high in December.

Source: Polymarket 

US Bitcoin Reserve (ARMA) agendaIn March 2205, US President Donald Trump signed an official decree to include Bitcoin (BTC) as a national reserve asset. However, for this directive to be executed as federal law, it had to go through the official bill-to-law process.

Its agenda includes a two-decade Bitcoin lockup and an accumulation goal of 1 million BTC over five years. Others include budget-neutral BTC acquisition, a digital asset stockpile for altcoins, and regular third-party audits.

While introduced as a bipartisan push, the bill passed the committee today on a 28-21 vote, with the majority being Republicans.

Headwinds facing the crypto reserve billThere are several reasons for public anticipation of a miss in legalizing the bill:

The first is the recent rejection of the CLARITY Act, despite multiple negotiations since its introduction nearly a year and a half ago. 

The second is the tight Congressional schedule as attention shifts to midterm elections.

Third is the misalignment among government agencies over who should oversee the multi-million dollar digital reserve. The DoJ’s Office of Legal Counsel is now mediating the oversight dispute among the Treasury, Commerce, and Justice departments.

Bitcoin price forecastBitcoin now hovers around the support zone of $75,719, declining from $79K in the week. Its future price could be affected by the recent Fed decision to hike interest rates for the first time since 2023. Another key driver is BTC spot ETF flow, which turned negative (-$450M) on September 15.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Short-term upward resistance is currently at $76,000-$77,000, with a break below current support opening downside towards $74,000-$73,500.

Story Ends Here

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In brief U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs shed $450.4 million Tuesday, their largest single-day outflow since June 24. The Senate voted 49 to 50 against invoking cloture on the Clarity Act, a crypto market-structure bill that needed 60 votes to advance, effectively ending its chances in 2026. Ethereum ETFs lost another $142.3 million the same day, while XRP funds stayed flat. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs shed $450.4 million on Tuesday, their largest single-day outflow since June 24, according to Decrypt's Bitcoin ETF tracker.

ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, are products that let ordinary investors buy exposure to an asset, such as Bitcoin, through a regular brokerage account, without ever touching a crypto wallet. They’ve been extremely popular since first launching two years ago and have become a proxy for overall market sentiment as money flows in and out of them daily.

Myriad: Where does Bitcoin go next? Click to make your prediction.Fidelity's FBTC led the exodus Tuesday with $214.8 million pulled out. BlackRock's IBIT lost $161.7 million, Grayscale's GBTC shed $44.1 million, and ARK 21Shares and Bitwise's funds saw smaller withdrawals.

Bitcoin ETF data. Image: DecryptEthereum ETFs bled another $142.3 million the same day, and XRP funds, smaller and newer, held flat after pulling in $11.3 million the day prior.

Ethereum ETF data. Image: DecryptCombined, the three asset funds lost close to $593 million in a single session—the sharpest one-day pullback crypto ETFs have seen since June, when Bitcoin funds posted their worst month on record.

The trigger wasn't a hack or a market crash. It was, apparently, Congress.

Why the Senate vote matteredThe Senate failed Tuesday to invoke cloture—the procedural vote that lets a bill move to formal debate, requiring 60 of 100 votes—on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

Senators voted 49 to 50 against it. Senate Banking's ranking Democrat, Elizabeth Warren, opposed the bill on the floor, warning it would spark a "crypto-fueled economic crash."

The Clarity Act would have given crypto its first real rulebook, splitting oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission and effectively legalizing most crypto trading in the United States.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), the bill's lead negotiator, called Tuesday's failure a likely death sentence: "It's over," she said just prior to the vote. Once the failed vote was confirmed she attacked her colleagues on the other side of the aisle. “The Democrats are now anti-American. Sad,” she posted on X.

This afternoon, Senate Democrats proved they were never truly serious about protecting consumers and preserving American leadership. I sat at the table with Senate Democrats working in good faith to get this done while they played games.

For over a year, they presented demands…

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) September 15, 2026

Regulatory clarity is what lets pension funds and banks treat Bitcoin like a normal, legal financial product instead of a legal gray zone. Without that clarity, institutional money tends to sit on the sidelines. Tuesday's outflows may be a sign of that hesitation showing up in real dollars. That said, today's forthcoming Federal Reserve decision, widely believed to be the first interest rate hike in three years, may be just as much—if not more—of a factor at the moment.

It's also worth noting that Congress isn't necessarily done trying on the Clarity Act. About 22 working days remain on the Senate calendar before midterm campaigning consumes the fall session, and the Digital Chamber, a crypto trade group, called Tuesday's result a "setback" rather than a defeat.

Barring a late revival, the SEC and CFTC's own rulemaking process—the fallback Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has already pointed to—is now the closest thing U.S. crypto markets have to a regulatory roadmap for the rest of 2026.

Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP steady as Fed raises rates to 4.00%

Crypto Overview: Bitcoin remains volatile amid CLARITY Act vote – Zcash, Stellar rally

Zcash price surged over 10% following a governance vote by the NU7 community that favored a quicker halving schedule and increased blocks per hour. At press time, ZEC was trading near $1,248.34, up about 12% over 24 hours, even as Bitcoin slipped toward $75,800.

Zcash Vote Backs Faster 25-Second Blocks Nearly 2.4 million ZEC took part in the NU7 vote, out of about 3.6 million eligible tokens at the snapshot. The turnout was about two-thirds of the available supply, exceeding the organizers’ participation threshold of 1 million ZECs.

Around 99.9% of all ZECs that participated in the surveys agreed to a reduction in the block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. A faster rate of block generation can provide faster confirmation times for transactions and improved overall network performance.

The voting process was also privacy-oriented, mirroring Zcash’s shielded voting pool of Ironwood. The ballots were encrypted and divided into 16 segments, allowing the validators to verify the count without being able to see the individual balances or votes.

Holders Preserve Bitcoin-Style Halving Schedule Around 98.9% of the voting ZECs voted to keep the same halving model. This implies that rewards for mining will continue to decline at periodic intervals, not gradually over time.

The decision maintains Zcash’s monetary policy to follow Bitcoin’s fixed halving structure. Holding voters also passed by 96.6% to postpone reissuance by the Network Sustainability Mechanism until February 2031.

That process takes at least 60% of transaction fees out of circulation and eventually returns those coins via block rewards. Under the system, the maximum supply of ZECs is fixed.

Another 99.3% of voting ZEC supported shipping NU7 as soon as possible. Features not ready by the September 30 deadline could be left out rather than delaying the full upgrade.

ZEC Price Rises as Network Developments Add Support The vote coincided with a notable Zcash price rally, which was outweighed by the broader cryptocurrency market sentiment. ZEC benefited as Bitcoin declined following the failure of the CLARITY Act in Washington.

Zcash Labs also announced that it has received funding to implement shielded pool support on Ledger hardware wallets. The integration would include the ability to use the same hardware wallet system for private storage of ZECs.

The vote may not mean a change of the NU7 immediately, as these approved features need to be tested and implemented by the developers. Nevertheless, the outcome provides developers with a definite direction for block time, halvings and the next upgrade schedule.

Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko has said that bitcoin’s fair value is $105,000 based on Metcalfe’s Law. 

Speaking on Bitcoin Magazine TV on Wednesday, the investment management firm said that now was the best time to buy the leading cryptocurrency as it is “on sale.” 

Metcalfe’s Law, an observation by Internet entrepreneur Robert Metcalfe, states that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users. Bitcoin touched a high in October 2025 of $126,080 but was recently trading 40% lower than that, at $75,701. 

“So the fair value of bitcoin today, based on Metcalf’s law — Tim Peterson runs a model that tracks this really nicely — it’s about $105,000, but it’s $75,000,” Yusko said.  

“Okay, so it’s on sale — you should accumulate things that are on sale.”

Yusko went on to say that bitcoin was the best way to protect one’s value and that investing in companies wasn’t good for the long-term. 

“The problem is over a 30-year period, equity, 85% of companies disappear over 30 years. It’s amazing stat,” he said. 

“What you really need is something to protect your value — and historically, for 5,000 years, there was one asset: gold.”

“Now we’ve got gold and bitcoin,” he added. 

Bitcoin started rallying in August following news that the U.S. Treasury would at least double the size of its liquidity-support buyback operations. The announcement hurt the dollar but non-yielding assets have benefited.  

Since then, some experts have said that the so-called debasement trade — when investors buy an asset as a way to hedge against a currency losing value — is back and will benefit bitcoin. 

The trade was hot last year, and helped bitcoin’s run, but the digital asset lost steam after October as traders turned their attention to stocks related to artificial intelligence. 

Mathew Di Salvo

Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.

The companion app connects to the ERA hardware wallet to add portfolio management, swaps, and dApp access across 14 networks — while private keys never leave the device. The release follows a full independent security audit by Cure53, and lands alongside a major update to ERA Lens, ERA’s on-device scam-warning system, plus new hardware-side capabilities including Bitcoin multisig and on-device 2FA. 

ERA, the maker of the air-gapped ERA hardware wallet, today announced the launch of the ERA Software Wallet, a companion mobile app for iOS and Android that turns its air-gapped hardware device into a full self-custody ecosystem. The move addresses one of the most common trade-offs in crypto self-custody: hardware wallets are secure but often clunky to use day-to-day, while software wallets are convenient but hold keys online.

ERA’s model keeps the two roles separate by design — the phone prepares transactions, the hardware device signs them, and the private keys never touch the phone at all.

“People don’t abandon self-custody because they don’t believe in it – they abandon it because it’s inconvenient,” said Alex Devyatkin, founder and CEO of ERA. “The Software Wallet doesn’t change what secures your assets. It changes how easy it is to actually use that security every day.”

What’s in the ERA Software WalletThe app gives users a single interface to manage assets across 14 networks – Bitcoin (SegWit, Taproot, and Legacy address types), Ethereum, Solana, Tron, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Gnosis, zkSync, Kaia, and Aurora – while every transaction is still confirmed and signed on the ERA hardware device via QR or NFC.

Inside the app, users can:

View portfolio balances across all supported networks, with each token clearly tagged by network
Send and receive assets, with a network guard that prevents funds from being sent to the wrong chain
Buy and sell crypto through integrated providers, with automatic KYC/country detection and side-by-side rate comparison
Swap and bridge across chains in a single flow, powered by Rango’s routing, with a full quote shown before signing
Connect to dApps via WalletConnect, with sessions still requiring hardware-signed approval
Get proactive protection: warnings on unused token approvals, a spam-token filter, alerts on pending or stuck transactions, and full transaction history
App-level security includes PIN and biometric unlock (Face ID / Touch ID / fingerprint), auto-lock when the app is backgrounded, and screen-privacy protections that hide app content from the system app switcher and block screenshots and screen recording.

Backed by an Independent Security AuditAhead of launch, ERA commissioned a full white-box security audit from Cure53, a cybersecurity firm with an established track record auditing wallets and crypto infrastructure. Cure53 was given access to source code, builds, documentation, and internal components, and tested the mobile app, API, transaction construction, and QR/BC-UR signing flows. Every finding was fixed by ERA’s team and then retested by Cure53 to confirm the fix held.

The summary and full technical reports are public:

Summary report (PDF)
Full pentest report (PDF)
The Headline Device Update: ERA Lens’s New Scam-Warning SystemThe main update on the device side is to ERA Lens, ERA’s built-in transaction-decoding layer, which translates what a transaction actually does into plain language before signing rather than showing raw hex data.

This release adds a new scam-warning display, expands coverage to more DeFi and bridging protocols (including Rango, imToken, Rabby, MetaMask Portfolio Bridge, Mayan, Squid, LayerSwap, Stargate V2, GasZip, and Magpie), and can now decode newer, harder-to-read transaction formats such as EIP-7702, ERC-7821, and Safe multicalls — flagging unlimited approvals to unfamiliar addresses automatically.

The team also added 37 real transactions drawn from known incidents – including Bybit, WazirX, Radiant, Inferno Drainer, and PREMINT – to its automated test suite, so every new firmware release is checked against these attack patterns before shipping.

Extended Protection, Built Into the AppOn the mobile side, the Software Wallet adds extended protection aimed at scams that target wallet users directly rather than the underlying blockchain. The home screen now surfaces a plain-language warning for unused token approvals, with a dedicated screen showing exactly which contract can spend how much of which token, in which network, revocable in one confirmation.

The app also guards against address poisoning — fake transaction records designed to trick users into copying a lookalike address from their own history. Between July 2 and August 1, 2026, ERA tracked 66 such fake entries across 24 poisoned addresses, spanning 8 wallets and 8 networks; if a recipient address is a near-identical copy of one of a user’s own addresses, sending is blocked outright, with no override.

Also New: Progressive Security on the Hardware DeviceAlongside the software wallet launch, ERA is rolling out further capabilities to the hardware device itself, continuing its “wallet you never outgrow” model — meaning users can move to more advanced security setups without switching devices.

Bitcoin multisig support – the ERA device can act as one cosigner in a Bitcoin multisig setup, for example holding one key in a 2-of-3 arrangement, removing any single point of failure.
On-device two-factor authentication – TOTP authentication codes can now be stored directly on the ERA hardware device, adding a second layer of digital security on the same hardware that protects private keys.
Device authenticity verification – separately from how transactions are signed, the ERA device can prove it is a genuine, unmodified unit by signing a one-time challenge with a factory-burned key, a check that takes under a minute.
About ERAERA (HWLT FZE) is a Dubai-based digital security company building the ERA Wallet ecosystem: an air-gapped hardware wallet, a companion multichain software wallet, and a built-in transaction-protection layer, ERA Lens.

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This third-party press release is published substantially as received and does not reflect BeInCrypto's editorial views. BeInCrypto has not independently verified its claims or assessed the suitability, legality or appropriateness of any referenced asset, product or service; publication is not an endorsement. The content is general information, not investment research, financial, investment, legal or tax advice, a personal recommendation, offer or solicitation. Verify all information and seek professional advice where appropriate before acting. Crypto-assets may result in total loss.

There’s a big problem with Bitcoin transactions from a business perspective that no one often talks about. Let’s say a business pays a supplier in BTC from a reused wallet address. They can actually look beyond the invoice. 

Right now, while you’re reading this, a competitor can open a block explorer and see who you paid in Bitcoin for your last deal — how much, when, and to which counterparty. Transaction tracing isn’t a problem for people with something to hide. It’s a standing business risk: treasury movements, partner relationships, and deal flow sit open to anyone willing to spend an afternoon following the trail.

The reflex is to assume this exposure starts on-chain, at the moment you sign a transaction. It doesn’t. In July 2026, researchers from KU Leuven’s DistriNet group tested 85 of the most popular browser-extension wallets and found that the wallets themselves leak enough to fingerprint and follow their users — before a single transaction is ever signed. 

The wallet pings an outside server to display a balance, and that request already carries the address in the clear. No exploit is involved; the extensions behave exactly as they were built to. Across all 85, the fingerprinting weakness alone reaches 36 wallets, which account for roughly 82% of the installs studied — the subgroup every later number in this section is measured against.

And this holds even for the honest ones. Andy Greenberg spent a decade as crypto crime’s most careful chronicler, reporting on the hackers, dealers, and launderers who treated the blockchain as a hiding place — and watching investigators pull them out of it one by one. It took him ten years to see how far from untraceable Bitcoin actually was. The ledger that was supposed to protect them was the record that convicted them. 

The false confidence runs in one direction — the people who assume they’ve done enough to stay private are mostly the ones who never had anything to hide: a donor whose entire giving history is now public, a journalist whose sources can be inferred from a payment trail, the B2B counterparty above.

Almost every layer of this happens to you, not by you. The rest of this piece maps the exposure in full — and marks the one link that was ever yours to write.

What Leaks From a Wallet Beyond the Transaction Itself A crypto wallet can reveal information before you even make a transaction. To show your balance, a browser wallet usually contacts outside servers and sends them your wallet address. Researchers from KU Leuven tested 85 popular browser-extension wallets, representing around 35 million Chrome Web Store installs. They found that 36 wallets — covering roughly 82% of the installs studied — could be identified and followed this way.

Seventeen wallets, covering about 23 million installs, could also expose links between different addresses belonging to the same user. In 22 of the 36 affected wallets, websites could still read an address even after the user revoked access and restarted the browser.

There is another problem. Websites can often detect which wallet extensions someone has installed without the user connecting a wallet at all. Researchers also found that 23 of the 36 affected wallets could leak an address through content loaded from another website, without the user clicking anything.

Most wallet providers contacted by the researchers did not treat this as a serious bug. Coinbase Wallet, Coin98 and Hana made changes, while others including MetaMask, Rabby and OKX did not. The researchers also tested 30 decentralized apps and found that only 11 properly revoked wallet access when users clicked “disconnect” or logged out.

Once an address becomes visible, the public blockchain provides the rest of the picture.

Blockchain-analysis companies look for transaction patterns that suggest several addresses belong to the same person or organization. 

For example, if several wallets repeatedly send funds between each other or interact in similar ways, software can group them together. One known address can therefore lead analysts to several others.

This happens at enormous scale. By mid-2026, Chainalysis said it had grouped more than 1 billion blockchain addresses into over 134,000 identified entities.

Moving funds between blockchains does not necessarily break the trail either. Analysts can follow assets through bridges between networks. Using a decentralized exchange does not automatically hide the transaction, because swaps are still recorded publicly on the blockchain.

The result is fairly simple: a wallet address may look like a random string of characters, but once enough activity is connected around it, it can become a detailed financial profile.

There are real examples of this working. After the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in 2021, US investigators followed Bitcoin through several wallets and recovered about $2.3 million of the $4.4 million ransom payment.

Helix: The Mechanism You Can’t Fool by Trying to Hide In the early years of Bitcoin, Helix was very popular in the darknet markets. It built to do one thing: make Bitcoin untraceable. Larry Dean Harmon ran it as a tumbler from 2014 to 2017, mixing customers’ coins to obscure where their funds came from, and he marketed the output as “clean” bitcoin. The entire model was concealment. Nothing about the service existed except to break the link between a coin’s origin and its destination.

Some 354,468 BTC, about $311M at the time, passed through it. The mixing changed what the trail looked like; it did not remove the trail. Every coin still left a permanent mark on the blockchain, one that couldn’t be altered or deleted after the fact.

Harmon took a 2.5% commission on each swap, and that commission went where every other coin went: onto the chain, permanently. The cut he skimmed to run a concealment service became the record that led back to the operator of it. The one service designed from the ground up to erase the trail wrote its owner into the trail it couldn’t erase.

How a Wallet Trail Gets Tied to a Real Person Helix shows that moving Bitcoin around does not necessarily erase the trail. But following the money is only half the job. Analysts still need to connect those wallet addresses to a real person or business.

That usually happens when funds touch a regulated exchange. Exchanges know which deposit addresses belong to their customers and hold identity records through KYC checks. If investigators trace Bitcoin to one of those addresses, they can request the account details through legal process.

That single connection can reveal far more than one transaction. If blockchain analysis has already linked several addresses as likely belonging to the same owner, identifying one of them can put a name on the whole group. The exchange may only know about the address that touched its platform, but the earlier analysis can connect it to the rest.

Sometimes no legal request is needed. People and businesses regularly publish wallet addresses themselves — on websites, donation pages, Telegram chats or public profiles. Once an address is openly tied to a name, its past transactions are also visible.

For businesses, this creates a basic privacy problem. A supplier payment can expose previous payments, treasury movements and other counterparties. Because blockchain transactions are permanent and timestamped, one identified wallet can make years of activity easier to reconstruct.

Where Blockchain Tracing Can Get It Wrong That does not mean blockchain analysis is always correct.

The systems used to connect wallets rely heavily on patterns and probability. They can produce false positives and false negatives: innocent activity can be flagged, while suspicious activity can be missed.

One problem is transaction history. Bitcoin can pass through many owners. If coins previously moved through a mixer or a wallet considered risky, a later owner can inherit that suspicion despite having nothing to do with the earlier activity. 

One documented P2P buyer had an account frozen because the Bitcoin he received had passed through a mixer before he owned it.

For exchanges and other regulated businesses, these mistakes have practical costs. A false alert can freeze a legitimate customer’s funds and create a compliance and support problem.

There are also limits to what tracing companies can see. Privacy-focused cryptocurrencies such as Monero remain much harder to follow. Investigations can also stop when funds reach exchanges in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate.

Even the biggest blockchain analytics companies have made major corrections. In early 2025, Chainalysis reduced its estimate of crypto stolen by North Korea during the previous year from $1 billion to $660.5 million — a correction of more than $300 million after several hacks were reassessed.

The reliability of these systems has also been challenged in court. Defense teams in cases including Bitcoin Fog and Tornado Cash have questioned how much weight should be placed on analysis produced by proprietary software that outsiders cannot fully inspect.

That scrutiny matters because Chainalysis is also a major US government contractor. Independent reporting based on federal records found it had received more than $93.2 million in government awards.

The biggest risk from a wrong result falls on innocent users. A mistaken link can freeze an account. In countries with weaker protections, the same tracing tools can expose donors, journalists or people funding political opposition. Blockchain tracing can reveal a great deal, but the result should never be treated as automatically correct.

The One Part of the Trail Users Can Still Control Most of the exposure described above happens outside the user’s control. Wallets can leak addresses before a transaction is made. Blockchain analysis can connect multiple addresses, and regulated exchanges can tie those wallets to a real identity through KYC records.

The part users can still control is the direct link between sender and recipient. When one wallet pays another, that connection is written permanently on-chain and can later reveal counterparties, treasury movements, and business relationships.

ChangeNOW introduced Private Transfers to remove that direct connection. The feature routes a payment through a separate one-time address, so the recipient does not receive funds directly from the sender. This breaks the visible sender-to-recipient path without claiming to make the wider transaction anonymous.

Other exposure remains. Wallet metadata can still leak, blockchain analysis can still follow surrounding activity, and AML checks still apply at the deposit, transfer and payout stages.

For API partners, Private Transfers is an optional feature within the existing transfer infrastructure. It uses the same API key and fee model and does not require a separate product or integration. Its purpose is narrower: remove the one visible link users can actually choose not to create.

Conclusion Return to where this started. Andy Greenberg spent years believing the blockchain hid the people using it and came out the other side with the opposite conclusion: “it took me a decade to realize how opposite of untraceable Bitcoin really was.” That is the ground the whole piece stands on. Untraceability, as a total property, doesn’t exist. The wallet leaks, the chain records, the cluster resolves to a name.

That’s the position worth holding for a partner. Not anonymity, which a decade of traced coins shows to be a story rather than a property, but a clear account of which layer closes and which stays open. Private Transfers removes the one link that was the user’s to create. 

Yana M. is a business development and account management leader in the crypto industry, currently Head of B2B&amp;Partnerships at ChangeNOW, a non-custodial crypto exchange infrastructure provider. Yana entered the crypto industry in 2021, starting at a payments startup where she built out business development from an early-stage team, before moving on to lead business development and account management for ChangeNOW's exchange infrastructure. Across both, she built and led partner-facing teams from the ground up, working with partners spanning fintech, wallets, exchanges, and payment platforms. Yana's focus is B2B partnership strategy. She structures integrations and negotiates commercial terms that balance partner and company interests, translating product capabilities into the metrics partners actually care about. Beyond partnerships, Yana oversees B2B marketing and product at ChangeNOW, and mentors BizDev and account managers on partner communication and negotiation.

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BeInCrypto independently reports and controls this Feature. Quoted views belong to their speakers. This content is general and non-personalized; it does not consider your circumstances and is not investment research, financial, investment, legal or tax advice, or an offer, endorsement or recommendation to transact in any crypto-asset, product or service. Verify material information before acting. Crypto-assets are volatile and may result in total loss. BeInCrypto gives no warranty as to completeness, accuracy or timeliness, except where required by law.

Table of contents

Deutsche Bank said on September 16 that it will launch a digital asset custody service for institutional and corporate clients in Europe, its most direct commitment yet to safeguarding crypto assets for the traditional finance clients it already serves. The German lender announced the planned rollout as a way for clients to hold and transfer selected digital assets without building their own custody infrastructure, with the launch targeted for this year subject to completion of the applicable regulatory process.

What the Custody Service Covers The service will let clients safeguard digital assets and transfer them to third parties, with Deutsche Bank managing wallets and private keys on clients’ behalf. At launch the bank will support a selected range of assets, including Bitcoin and Ether as well as stablecoins and e-money tokens such as USDC and EURC, with the list expandable over time subject to client demand and the bank’s product-approval process. Security is layered around hardware-based key protection, segregation of duties, multi-person approval and separate warm and cold storage environments.

Who the Bank Is Targeting The initial target group is clients of Deutsche Bank’s Corporate Bank and Investment Bank, spanning corporates, asset managers, hedge funds, custodians, brokers and sovereign institutions, with onboarding subject to the bank’s criteria, due-diligence requirements and risk appetite. Gerald Podobnik, Co-Head Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank, framed the move as complementary to traditional finance rather than a replacement. “Digital assets are not a replacement for the traditional financial system but an important complement to it,” he said. “We see them as new rails that can coexist with existing market infrastructures while benefiting from the trust, security and safeguards that regulated financial institutions provide. Our aim is to offer clients a secure and regulated gateway to this evolving market.”

A Broader Institutional Push The custody rollout extends a wider Deutsche Bank push into digital-asset infrastructure, following its earlier work on fiat-crypto integration for institutional trading. It also places the lender alongside other banks racing into custody — a field where European lenders are already competing as regulators finalize rules for the sector. Because the service remains subject to regulatory approval, the bank cautioned that timing, geographical availability, supported assets and scope may still change.

AUTHOR

Blockchain analyst specializing in the regulatory impact of government policies on the crypto industry. Known for his thorough research and clear, engaging writing, Emmanuel provides insightful analysis on the latest trends, market shifts, and emerging crypto innovations. His work aims to educate and inform both novice and experienced readers, offering expert perspectives on the fast-evolving world of digital assets. With a passion for staying ahead of the curve, Ogwu is a trusted voice in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.