Bitcoin Hits 14-Day High Despite CLARITY Setback, Fed and BOJ Rate Hikes: Weekly Recap

It was expected to be a massively eventful week for the entire cryptocurrency industry, and it was.

But first, let’s see what happened precisely seven days ago. The US CPI data had just come out, confirming that inflation is still persistent. As such, the US Federal Reserve had all the missing pieces to its monetary puzzle, and experts predicted a rate hike on September 16.

BTC went wild after the CPI data was announced, going from $77,000 to $76,000 before it suddenly exploded to $79,800, where it was violently rejected and driven south to its starting point. All of this took place within an hour or so. After this enhanced volatility, the market calmed during the weekend, with BTC trading sideways at around $77,000.

It dipped to $76,400 on Monday before the bulls took control and drove it to $79,600 ahead of the key CLARITY Act vote a day later. BTC had already retreated to $77,000 when it became official that the Senate rejected cloture to advance the bill, and bitcoin plunged to a three-week low of $75,000.

The bulls managed to defend that level, but the next day was anticipated to be just as eventful with the conclusion of the FOMC meeting. The Fed indeed hiked the rates for the first time in over three years, but BTC’s reaction was more modest and somewhat surprising. The asset slipped to $75,000 once again initially, but rocketed to over $76,000 within minutes.

It kept climbing gradually on Thursday and especially on Friday. Although the BOJ also increased the rates by 25 bps to a 31-year high, BTC actually reclaimed $78,000 during the morning trading session. It stood there for a while, but initiated another leg up as US trading hours began and rocketed to a two-week peak of $81,000, where it was stopped, at least for now.

This means that BTC is actually in the green during the week in which all major events went against it. Meanwhile, ZEC continues its massive rally, while NEAR has rocketed by 35%. UNI is up by over 30% as well, followed by HYPE, BCH, and a few others. RAIN has plummeted by 22%.

Market Data

Market Cap: $2.770T | 24H Vol: $96B | BTC Dominance: 58.6%

BTC: $80,600 (+0.9%) | ETH: $2,570 (-3%) | XRP: $1.37 (-4%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

Strategy Stays on the Sidelines Again, but Strive Buys More Bitcoin. The week began with a familiar announcement: Strategy refused to buy more BTC while it continues to focus on rebuilding its USD stash. At the same time, Strive keeps accumulating more BTC, adding another 469 units.

Bitcoin Could Get More Support Than Gold as ETF Hedging Eases: JPMorgan. Analysts at the Wall Street behemoth said BTC may gain more price support than the precious metal amid easing ETF hedging demand, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust showing high short interest.

From Bear to Bull: Analyst Says Bitcoin UTXO Data Points to a Cycle Shift. Bitcoin’s share of addresses sitting at a loss has dropped sharply, and an on-chain analyst said moves of that size have historically ended bear markets and are not just producing a short bounce.

SEC Opens Door to Onchain Stock Trading With New ‘Innovation Exemption’. The regulator has launched an “Innovation Exemption” to promote secondary trading of tokenized stocks on blockchain platforms, easing regulatory burdens for Tokenized Securities Venues.

Seven Democrats Refuse to Give Up on CLARITY Act After Senate Setback. Despite the latest developments on the matter, several Democrats stated that this is not the end, pledging to continue bipartisan efforts for crypto regulatory clarity.

CoinEx Calls Time After Nearly Nine Years as Crypto Market Pressure Mounts. After nine years in existence, CoinEx has decided to shut down its platform by the end of the year due to declining crypto market conditions and increased regulatory pressures. As such, the exchange joins other major names that fell during the 2026 bear market, such as BitMart and BitMEX.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid – click here for the complete price analysis.