Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies moved higher on Thursday, as digital-asset markets stabilized after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered its first interest-rate increase since 2023 but signaled that policymakers do not currently expect an aggressive tightening cycle.
Bitcoin traded around $76,394.64 in the latest CoinMarketCap readings, gaining roughly 0.77 percent over 24 hours, with its market capitalization above $1.53 trillion and daily trading volume around $30 billion.
The broader CoinMarketCap market dashboard put total cryptocurrency capitalization at around $2.6 trillion, while its Fear & Greed Index stood at 63 out of 100, indicating “greed.” Bitcoin remained dominant, accounting for close to 59 percent of the market.
Ethereum was trading around $2,420–$2,430, up about 1 percent over 24 hours, with a market capitalization close to $296 billion and daily volume around $16 billion.
Fed hike absorbed
The Federal Open Market Committee unanimously raised the federal funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75–4.00 percent on Wednesday, marking its first rate increase since 2023.
In its official policy statement, the Fed said inflation remained elevated and that the increase would support a more timely return toward its 2 percent objective. The vote was 12–0.
The Fed also raised the interest rate paid on reserve balances to 3.90 percent, effective September 17.
Updated projections showed a median federal funds rate of 4.1 percent at the end of both 2026 and 2027. Sixteen of 18 policymakers indicated at least one further increase this year, suggesting another quarter-point hike but not an extended series of aggressive increases.
That distinction helped digital assets recover. CoinDesk reported that investors viewed the widely anticipated increase as unlikely to mark the beginning of a much steeper tightening cycle, with bitcoin, ether, solana, BNB and other major tokens advancing during Asian hours.
Zcash leads rally
Zcash was the standout performer.
The privacy-focused cryptocurrency surged roughly 23 percent to around $1,369, according to CoinDesk, while live CoinMarketCap readings also showed ZEC above $1,360 and up more than 20 percent over 24 hours.
The rally coincided with comments from Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang, who disclosed that the crypto investment firm owns ZEC and described Zcash as a private complement to bitcoin.
Zcash allows transactions without publicly revealing the identities of the sender and recipient or the amount transferred. CoinDesk said Huang also supported continued funding for the network’s developers while advocating a governance model that combines token-holder voting with other decision-making mechanisms.
The latest move is stronger than the 17.75 percent gain in your earlier snapshot, so I would update the headline and lead to approximately 23 percent for publication.
Major tokens recover
BNB advanced to around $725–$727, with CoinMarketCap showing a gain of more than 2 percent over 24 hours in its latest readings.
XRP traded around $1.30, recovering roughly 1 percent over 24 hours after suffering one of the steepest losses among major cryptocurrencies following Tuesday’s Senate vote.
Solana traded just below $100, rising approximately 2.5 percent over 24 hours. CoinDesk similarly reported a gain of nearly 3 percent during Asian trading.
Dogecoin stood around $0.081, gaining roughly 1–2 percent, while Hyperliquid’s HYPE was also higher after losing ground earlier in the week.
Tether remained around $1, as did USDC, while TRON held near $0.336.
Altcoins rebound
The broader altcoin market also recovered from Wednesday’s selloff.
In your CoinMarketCap snapshot, Uniswap surged 6.57 percent to $6.7752, while NEAR Protocol jumped 13.37 percent to $2.6615, extending its seven-day gain to 5.63 percent.
Canton advanced 7.14 percent to $0.09818, Aster climbed 7.01 percent to $0.7265, Ondo rose 6.80 percent to $0.35020, and Ethena gained 7.56 percent to $0.1508.
Pump.fun jumped 8.75 percent to $0.003830, while Polkadot rose 5.66 percent to $1.009. Cronos added 5.46 percent to $0.05846 and Sui advanced 4.25 percent to $0.7209.
Stellar gained 3.74 percent to $0.18246, while Avalanche rose 2.56 percent to $7.52, Litecoin increased 1.74 percent to $52.02 and Chainlink climbed 2.26 percent to $11.126.
Monero was one of the exceptions, falling 0.89 percent to $500.03 in the earlier snapshot.
Weekly losses remain
Despite Thursday’s rebound, a large part of the cryptocurrency market remained lower over seven days.
Bitcoin was still about 2.5 percent lower for the week in the snapshot you supplied, while ether was down roughly 1.7 percent.
XRP had lost 6.78 percent, Cardano was down 8.06 percent, Dogecoin had fallen 5.76 percent and Hyperliquid remained 6.17 percent lower.
Bitcoin Cash was down 11.88 percent over seven days, while Bittensor had lost 12.53 percent. Polkadot remained down 8.53 percent and MemeCore was 9.40 percent lower.
Uniswap stood out in the opposite direction, with its earlier seven-day gain reaching 11.80 percent.
That divergence shows that Thursday’s move represents a rebound from recent weakness rather than a complete reversal of the week’s losses.
Gold-backed tokens weaken
Crypto tokens backed by gold moved in the opposite direction as bullion itself came under renewed pressure following the Fed decision.
Tether Gold was down about 0.69 percent at $4,301.80 in your snapshot, while PAX Gold slipped 0.67 percent to around $4,303.
Spot gold was subsequently trading around $4,295 an ounce, reinforcing the decline in gold-linked crypto assets.
Dollar-linked stablecoins remained broadly unchanged. Tether traded around $0.9994, USDC around $1.0008 and Dai close to $1.
Ethena USDe, World Liberty Financial USD1, PayPal USD, Global Dollar, Ripple USD and USDD also remained clustered around their $1 pegs.
Read more: Bitcoin dips to $76,319 as Clarity Act fails to pass in Senate
Clarity Act setback
Regulation remains another major driver of crypto sentiment after the U.S. Senate failed on Tuesday to advance H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
The cloture motion failed 49–50, well short of the 60 votes required to move the legislation to debate, according to the official Senate record.
The measure was intended to establish a broader federal market structure for digital assets and clarify the respective regulatory responsibilities of agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The failed procedural vote triggered broad weakness across digital assets. CoinDesk reported that XRP plunged nearly 10 percent to $1.30, while ether fell close to 5 percent, solana and dogecoin lost roughly 5 percent and bitcoin dropped almost 3 percent toward $76,000.
Thursday’s rebound has therefore partly reversed the immediate reaction to the Senate setback.
Rates remain key
Attention has now shifted back toward monetary policy and how rapidly the Fed may tighten further.
Higher interest rates can pressure cryptocurrencies by increasing returns available on cash and government bonds while also tightening financial conditions for speculative assets.
However, a widely anticipated hike can have the opposite short-term effect when investors conclude that the future rate path is less aggressive than feared.
ViaBTC chief analyst Jeff Ko told CoinDesk that the September increase had been largely priced in and that the Fed appeared not to be signaling an aggressive tightening cycle.
