Bitcoin advanced 0.88% over 24 hours to $76,621 as traders responded to the Federal Reserve’s projections indicating that only one additional rate hike may be needed. Zcash led the gains, jumping 23% to a record high after Paradigm revealed that it owns ZEC.
Bitcoin rose to $76,621 on Thursday, up 0.60% since midnight UTC and 0.88% over the previous 24 hours. Investors appeared more focused on the Fed’s projected path for interest rates than on the central bank’s first increase in more than three years. Ether gained 1.1% to $2,444.36, while Solana climbed 2% to $100.57.
The Federal Open Market Committee increased its target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4%. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation had remained “too high … for too long” and indicated that recent data had not shown a meaningful improvement in underlying price pressures.
Markets found some reassurance in the Fed’s updated “dot plot.” The median projection shows the policy rate at 4.1% at the end of both 2026 and 2027, pointing to just one additional 25-basis-point increase rather than a prolonged tightening cycle.
Other risk assets also moved higher. The Dollar Index declined 0.17%, while Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.04% and S&P 500 futures gained 0.81%. Gold advanced 1.02%, and silver added 1.52%. The two-year Treasury yield dropped 2 basis points to 4.71% after reaching its highest level since 2024 during the previous session.
Crypto followed the broader risk-asset recovery rather than driving the move. This was different from earlier in the week, when digital assets had traded more independently from equities. The rebound was widespread but particularly strong among speculative tokens, with 94 of the CoinDesk 100 constituents gaining over 24 hours. The small-cap CoinDesk 80 rose 4.7%, compared with a 1.2% gain for the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5.
ETF flows remain a weakness. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs posted $295.98 million in outflows on Wednesday after losing $450.33 million the previous day, according to SoSoValue. Since Sept. 8, the funds have recorded more than $1 billion in cumulative outflows across seven sessions, pushing total net assets down to $95.19 billion.
Bitcoin is still 6.9% below its monthly peak of $82,284, reached Sept. 4.
Derivatives Positioning
Total open interest across crypto futures increased to $64.4 billion from $59.7 billion on Monday. Trading volume over 24 hours reached $112.6 billion, while liquidations totaled $214.3 million, according to Coinalyze. The increase in open interest indicates traders have been adding positions during the rally rather than simply buying back shorts.
Bitcoin open interest rose 1.41% to $26.6 billion, while ether open interest increased 1.39% to $16.7 billion. Ether accounted for $60.7 million of liquidations, compared with $42.4 million for Bitcoin.
Zcash posted the sharpest increase in derivatives activity. ZEC open interest surged 37.84% over 24 hours to $2.2 billion, with $28.9 million in liquidations. The funding rate remained negative at -0.0253%, meaning short traders were paying long traders even as ZEC reached record highs. Traders have repeatedly bet against the token’s advance this month, resulting in continued short squeezes.
Bitcoin’s funding rate is positive and trending higher. Its aggregated rate reached 0.0070%, while the predicted rate stood at 0.0082%. Funding conditions varied widely across exchanges, ranging from 0.0153% on Kraken to -0.0003% on Huobi.
Coinalyze’s long/short ratio was 1.13, indicating more bullish than bearish positioning. The ratio has remained positive for eight consecutive days following a three-week stretch below 1.
Token Talk
Zcash climbed 23% over 24 hours to roughly $1,369, setting a fresh record. The move followed Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang’s disclosure on X that the investment firm owns ZEC. Huang described the asset as “a private complement to Bitcoin” and supported continued funding for its developers.
The rally followed a governance vote in which Zcash holders approved reducing block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds while keeping the Bitcoin-style halving schedule. The change leaves Zcash with a market capitalization of $23.2 billion.
Monero moved in the opposite direction, falling 0.97% to $494.14 and losing 1.6% over 24 hours. Zcash’s market value has now reached twice that of Monero, creating a significant gap between the two leading privacy coins.
NEAR Protocol posted the largest 24-hour gain among mid-cap tokens, rising 16% to $2.82, including a 7.6% gain since midnight UTC. Venice Token recovered 14% over 24 hours to $25.45, pushing the AI platform’s token above its level before Tuesday’s Clarity Act vote.
Pump.fun led the CoinDesk 80 on the day with a 7.9% gain to $0.003926. Lighter (LIT), the perpetuals exchange token, added 7% to $4.92, while Fartcoin increased 6.4%. The moves point to renewed speculative activity after traders had focused heavily on Bitcoin following the August short squeeze.
CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator also moved higher, reaching 39/100 after remaining near 32/100 for most of the week.
