Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies rose after Fed delivered its first interest-rate hike since 2023, with traders focusing on the central bank’s future path rather than the quarter-point increase itself. Zcash led gains as speculative appetite returned across the market.
Bitcoin climbed above $76,000 on Thursday after initially dipping around the Federal Reserve’s decision. BTC reached $76,621, up 0.88% over 24 hours, while Ether gained 1.1% to $2,444 and Solana rose 2% to $100.57.
The broader crypto market recovered above $2.7 trillion, after falling below that level ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
The FOMC voted to raise the federal funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4%, marking the first rate increase since 2023. Despite the move toward tighter monetary policy, risk assets broadly rallied.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Performance on Sept. 18, 2026 (Source: CoinMarketCap)
Markets Had Already Priced In the Hike
The Fed’s decision came as little surprise to investors. Markets had assigned a high probability to a quarter-point increase in the days leading up to the meeting, allowing traders to position ahead of the announcement.
Crypto had already absorbed significant selling. Total market capitalization fell from approximately $2.73 trillion on September 3 to $2.53 trillion before the Fed decision. Bitcoin also dropped to around $75,350 shortly before the announcement before recovering above $76,000.
The reaction suggests that the hike itself was less important than the Fed’s guidance about what comes next.
The committee’s median projection puts the policy rate at 4.1% at the end of both 2026 and 2027, implying one additional 25-basis-point increase from the current range. However, 16 of 18 policymakers now expect another hike before the end of 2026, compared with nine in June.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation remained “too high … for too long,” signaling that policymakers still see persistent inflation as a concern.
Still, the projections did not indicate a prolonged tightening cycle, helping reassure investors.
The reaction extended beyond crypto. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.04%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.81%, gold advanced 1.02%, and the U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.17%.
Crypto joined the broader risk-asset rebound rather than driving it.
Zcash Leads the Crypto Rally
The strongest gains came from the more speculative end of the market.
CoinDesk data showed 94 of its 100 largest cryptocurrencies trading higher over 24 hours. The small-cap CoinDesk 80 gained 4.7%, significantly outperforming the 1.2% advance in the Bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5.
Zcash emerged as the standout performer.
ZEC jumped more than 20% over seven days, briefly trading above $1,350 and reaching a record near $1,400. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency has gained roughly 160% this year, substantially outperforming Bitcoin.
The rally has been supported by several Zcash-specific developments.
Zcash Leads the Crypto Rally (Source: Coindesk)
A recent governance vote overwhelmingly backed reducing block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds while maintaining the network’s Bitcoin-style halving schedule. Nearly 2.4 million ZEC participated, with 99.9% supporting faster blocks.
Zcash Labs also announced an $80,000 agreement with Ledger to support integration of Zcash’s new Ironwood shielded pool with Ledger devices.
The token received another boost after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed that the investment firm owns ZEC and described it as a “private complement to Bitcoin.”
Zcash’s market capitalization has now climbed to around $23 billion, putting it among the largest cryptocurrencies.
The rally has also widened the gap with rival privacy coin Monero. XMR slipped about 1% over 24 hours to roughly $494 while ZEC continued climbing.
Other altcoins joined the move. NEAR Protocol rose about 16%, Venice Token gained 14%, and Pump.fun’s PUMP advanced nearly 8%.
CoinMarketCap’s Altcoin Season indicator increased to 39/100, up from around 32 earlier in the week, although the reading remains well below levels typically associated with a broad altcoin rally.
Derivatives Show Rising Risk Appetite
The derivatives market is also showing increased participation.
Aggregate crypto futures open interest climbed to $64.4 billion, up from $59.7 billion on Monday, while 24-hour futures volume reached $112.6 billion.
Bitcoin open interest rose 1.41% to $26.6 billion, while Ether open interest increased 1.39% to $16.7 billion.
The rise in open interest alongside higher prices suggests traders are adding positions rather than simply closing bearish bets.
Coinalyze’s aggregate long/short ratio stood at 1.13, marking its eighth consecutive day above 1 after remaining below that level for roughly three weeks.
Zcash has seen an especially sharp increase in leverage. ZEC open interest surged 37.84% to $2.2 billion over 24 hours, while its funding rate remained negative at -0.0253%. That means short positions were paying longs even as ZEC reached new highs, pointing to continued pressure on traders betting against the rally.
Bitcoin ETF Outflows Remain a Concern
The recovery has not yet been confirmed by spot Bitcoin fund flows.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded approximately $296 million in net outflows on Wednesday, following $450 million of withdrawals the previous day. Across seven sessions since September 8, total outflows have exceeded $1 billion, reducing total net assets to around $95.2 billion.
Bitcoin also remains 6.9% below its September 4 monthly high of $82,284.
The divergence between derivatives and spot markets is therefore becoming an important feature of the rally. Futures traders are increasing exposure, while ETF investors have recently been pulling capital from the market.
That leaves the recovery with mixed signals. Risk appetite is returning, but sustained demand from spot investors has yet to emerge.
The Next Test for Crypto
The Fed’s first rate hike since 2023 has so far failed to trigger the broad risk-off reaction that tighter monetary policy can produce.
But policymakers remain concerned about inflation, and most officials still expect another rate increase before the end of the year. For crypto, the next question is whether the current rebound can develop into sustained buying rather than remain a short-term reaction to an already-priced-in event.
Bitcoin still needs to reclaim its recent highs, ETF outflows remain a headwind, and leverage is building across derivatives markets.
At the same time, the strength of Zcash and other speculative tokens suggests traders are becoming increasingly willing to take risks.
For now, crypto has absorbed the Fed’s first rate increase since 2023 and moved higher. Whether that resilience can develop into a broader recovery will depend on spot demand, liquidity and the Fed’s next moves.
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