There's a group of listed companies whose actual business barely matters anymore — what they do is borrow money and issue stock to 'buy Bitcoin' onto their balance sheet, until their own stock becomes a geared-up version of Bitcoin. The original company, Strategy, invented a money flywheel that spins itself — beautiful on the way up, brutal on the way down. This lesson walks through how it works, the risks, and why by mid-2026 the wheel has started spinning the other way.
CleanSpark Prices $2.276B Senior Secured Notes Due 2031
CleanSpark said on Friday it priced $2.276B of 7.875% senior secured notes due 2031 at 98.5% of the principal amount. The offering is expected to close on September 25. Net proceeds will fund the remaining buildout costs of the Sandersville facility, reimburse certain prior equity contributions, and fund debt service reserves. The notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by CSRE Properties Sandersville, a wholly owned subsidiary of the issuer, and the company will provide a completion guarantee and fund any shortfall needed to complete the Sandersville facility. Shares rose 8.39%.
Bitcoin's Bull Market Is Cooling, Watch US Demand Slowdown and Altcoin Selling Pressure
In a weekly report published on September 16, CryptoQuant assessed the current Bitcoin market as a "cooling bull market." After its recent rally, Bitcoin entered a range of $76,000 to $82,000 and is now trading near the lower end of that band, while its bullish score index fell from 80 during the uptrend to 60. Weakness in US investor demand is also clear: the Coinbase Premium has slipped back into negative territory as Bitcoin corrects from around $80,000, and a recovery in spot demand is seen as essential for a sustained advance. Ethereum exchange inflows surged in late August and around September 10, briefly reaching 1.6 million to 1.7 million ETH, while altcoin exchange inflow transactions hit 56,000 on September 8, the highest level in about nine months. Bitcoin exchange inflows, by contrast, have been calm; they briefly rose to about 53,000 BTC when prices climbed to $82,000 but have since declined, indicating that large-scale selling is not continuing. The key price level ahead is around $70,000, where the 200-day moving average sits; a break below that would bring $62,000 to $65,000 into focus as the next major support.
Kevin O'Leary Buys Crypto Again, Gold Comparison Points to $760K Bitcoin
Kevin O'Leary has started buying new crypto positions ahead of what he believes will be the market's next cycle, and his comparison between Bitcoin and institutional gold allocations has produced an eye-watering potential price. Speaking at the Avalanche Summit in New York, O'Leary told The Block he is "back in the saddle buying new positions, putting my bets on for this next cycle," though he did not identify the assets or disclose the value of the positions. He said Bitcoin could eventually represent between 1% and 3% of the capital institutions allocate to alternative assets, drawing a comparison with gold, and Forbes calculated that such a scenario could value Bitcoin between $253,000 and $760,000. The upper estimate would give Bitcoin a market capitalization of roughly $15 trillion, while the lower figure would produce a valuation close to $5 trillion; with Bitcoin recently trading near $80,000, reaching $253,000 would require an increase of approximately 216%, and a move to $760,000 would represent an advance of about 850%. The $760,000 figure is considerably higher than O'Leary's actual public forecast of $150,000 to $200,000 in April, which hinged on the CLARITY Act establishing a clearer regulatory framework, a catalyst removed after the Senate rejected the bill's motion to proceed. O'Leary also said in an April interview with Fox Business that investors could capture approximately 97% of the crypto market's volatility by holding Bitcoin and Ethereum, and that he had reduced a portfolio that once spanned 27 crypto positions primarily to BTC and Ethereum alongside the USDC stablecoin.
JPMorgan Says Bitcoin Could Outperform Gold as Hedges Unwind
JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said Bitcoin could receive more support than gold if investors begin unwinding defensive positions around Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, according to a Wednesday note. The analysts said Bitcoin investors remain more heavily hedged than gold investors, leaving room for the cryptocurrency to benefit disproportionately if that caution fades. Gold ETFs have already recovered all of their earlier 2026 outflows, while Bitcoin ETFs have recovered only about half, and short interest in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, remains near its highest level this year, while short interest in the SPDR Gold Shares ETF is below its historical average. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $450.4 million in net outflows on Sept. 15 and another $295.9 million on Sept. 16, before reversing to $159.5 million of inflows on Sept. 17, with IBIT alone bringing in $183.7 million that day. The call comes despite a difficult backdrop: on Sept. 15 the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, falling short of the 60 votes needed for cloture, and a day later the Federal Reserve unanimously raised interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%-4%, its first increase since 2023.
Upexi Posts $246.1 Million Annual Loss as Solana Treasury Marks First Year
Upexi reported a net loss of $246.1 million, or $3.87 per share, for fiscal year 2026, driven primarily by $195.1 million in unrealized losses and $11.7 million in realized losses on its digital assets. The company held approximately 2.34 million Solana tokens as of June 30, 2026, with a cost basis of approximately $360.3 million, or an average cost per token of $154, and about 95% of those tokens were staked. For the year, the treasury generated approximately $17.4 million in digital asset revenues, or roughly 135,000 Solana tokens, while cash stood at $5.8 million, up 65% from the prior quarter end, and total stockholders' equity was negative $53.8 million against positive equity of $90.1 million a year ago. Chief Executive Officer Allan Marshall said the company extinguished roughly $20 million in debt in June and subsequently refinanced its credit facility, cutting the interest rate from 11.5% to 7.5%, while reducing full-time employees from 59 a year ago to just 10 today. Upexi also repurchased approximately 2.9 million shares at an average weighted price of $0.96 per share for total consideration of approximately $2.8 million under its $50 million repurchase program, and after year-end issued approximately 2.5 million shares under its at-the-market program for gross proceeds of approximately $2.5 million.
Strategy Jumps 12%, Coinbase Climbs 11% as Bitcoin Tops $80,000
Bitcoin traded at $80,888.81, up 5.5% over 24 hours, pushing crypto-linked equities sharply higher Friday morning. Strategy stock rose 12% to $148.55 and Coinbase Global shares climbed 11% to $192.43, both outpacing the coin itself, while the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF gained 6% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust slipped 0.1%. Nic Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau, said short positions were liquidated once Bitcoin broke past its resistance level, and crypto derivatives traders had been heavily positioned in call options heading into the move. The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it is granting a five-year exemption allowing U.S. trading venues to offer tokenized stocks, a direct tailwind for Coinbase, which earns fees on every listed venue it operates. Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong said he now assumes the CLARITY Act is dead and that another path exists through the regulators, naming the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while a House of Representatives committee advanced the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill on Thursday, a measure that still requires approval from the full House and the Senate. Strategy remains a leveraged treasury vehicle for Bitcoin, funded largely with issued equity, and its stock is still down 3% year to date even after this month's rebound.
Evernorth Raises $30 Million to Expand XRP Treasury Strategy
Evernorth, the world's largest XRP treasury firm, has landed a $30 million raise to buy more XRP, securing massive funding in South Korea to boost its XRP strategy. The capital injection deepens the company's existing XRP treasury holdings, which already rank as the largest of their kind. The move comes as XRP has become the buzz of the crypto ecosystem, with the South Korea funding round marking the latest step in Evernorth's accumulation push.
Bitcoin Tops $80,000 as $445 Million in Shorts Liquidate
Bitcoin surged past $80,000 as a fresh short squeeze liquidated more than $445 million in short positions across the crypto market, with Bitcoin alone accounting for $230 million of that total. The world's largest cryptocurrency is up 5.88% on the day, trading at $80,846 after opening at $76,355 and tagging an intraday high of $80,857 against a low of $76,236. The rally follows a Federal Reserve rate hike of 25 basis points on Wednesday, its first since 2023, paired with a dot plot projecting a median policy rate of just 4.1% through the end of 2027, implying only one more move rather than a sustained tightening cycle. Crypto had extra ground to make up after the failure of the Clarity Act to clear a Senate procedural vote earlier in the week knocked Bitcoin below $75,000, and the relief rally has compounded through the week. Technically, Bitcoin's Average Directional Index sits at 40.6, above the 25 threshold, with the positive directional line above the negative one, while the 50-day exponential moving average trades above the 200-day EMA after a golden cross last Saturday; the Relative Strength Index reads 63.3. Immediate resistance sits at $82,281, with support at $75,569 and then $68,858.
Bitget Says Bitcoin Holds Above $75,000 as Dollar-Divestment Trend Builds
Bitget, a global cryptocurrency exchange platform and Web3 company, said Bitcoin has continued to hold above support at $75,000, even after the US Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, voted to raise interest rates for the first time in three years, by 0.25%, and signalled further hikes this year. Meanwhile, the CLARITY Act failed to win approval in the US Senate. Ms. Gracie Chen, Managing Director of Bitget, said that Donald Trump's move to direct the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to issue crypto regulations on their own without relying on congressional mechanisms has helped ease disappointment over the CLARITY Act to some degree. The trend of divesting dollar holdings remains the main factor driving investors worldwide toward both gold and Bitcoin. AI-related technology stocks continued to deliver strong returns this week, after the market's concerns eased over major AI model providers SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic slowing development of new models. Marking its eighth anniversary, Bitget is preparing a full-scale push into the institutional client market. In the second quarter of 2026, the net asset value of its institutional clients grew 45% compared with the previous year, and it has most recently become the first crypto trading platform to bring official market data from the Nasdaq stock exchange directly into its US equities-related infrastructure.
Bitcoin Seeks Lower Ground as US Rate Hike Shift Weighs, $70,000–$80,000 Range Eyed
This week, Bitcoin strengthened its downward trend following the US FOMC rate hike, military tensions between the United States and Iran, and the rejection of the US CLARITY Act's move to deliberation, with the price falling to around $75,000, or roughly 11.7 million yen. Next week, a stock market correction triggered by the US rate hike shift and the US-Iran situation are expected to remain a drag, with the market likely probing lower levels. On the other hand, expectations for large AI-related IPOs and practical progress in crypto asset regulation could help support the market. For the near-term price range, the upside is seen at $80,000, or about 12.48 million yen, while the downside is seen at $70,000, or about 10.92 million yen.
B. Riley Lifts Solana Company Price Target to US$3.50 as Fair Value Rises to US$3.25
B. Riley raised its price target on Solana Company to US$3.50 from US$2.50 as part of a broader reset across its digital asset treasury coverage, and the updated central fair value anchor for the stock moved to US$3.25 from US$2.75. The firm cited token appreciation quarter to date, preferred issuance and at the market activity as key inputs to its revised view of the company's balance sheet flexibility and treasury value, and pointed to stronger digital asset liquidity after macro news on Treasury buybacks, an SEC token proposal and a White House crypto summit. The higher target follows B. Riley's August 2026 cut of the same target to US$2.50 from US$3, when it flagged that Q2 cost improvement was buried under non cash marks, raising questions about the clarity of reported earnings quality. Under the revised assumptions, revenue growth shifted from a 6.32% decline to a 0.64% increase, the net profit margin assumption moved from 12.13% to about 53.33%, the future P/E was adjusted from about 209.7x to about 45.5x, and the discount rate moved from 7.45% to about 7.47%.
BOJ raises rates to 1.25%, highest in 31 years; Bitcoin holds above $77,000
The Bank of Japan raised its policy interest rate by 0.25% to 1.25%, the highest level in 31 years, at its two-day meeting on September 17–18. The board voted 7 to 2, with Toichiro Asada and Ayano Sato dissenting. It was the second rate hike in three months and pushed Japanese borrowing costs to their highest since 1995. The move was widely expected by the market, and the market took it calmly, with no major sell-off in assets linked to the yen carry trade, while the yen weakened 0.8% to 157.145 yen per dollar. Bitcoin held steady above $77,000, with the global crypto market capitalization at about $2.73 trillion and roughly $159 million in inflows into ETFs on September 17. The BOJ's rate hike came after the Fed raised its benchmark rate by another 0.25% to a range of 3.75%–4.00%, and the ECB also raised rates earlier this month. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda is scheduled to hold a press conference at 15:30 local time.
Bitcoin Japan to Make First BTC Purchase, Acquiring Spot Holdings With a $1 Million Cap
Bitcoin Japan, which currently holds zero bitcoin, announced on September 18 that it will launch a bitcoin treasury business through a wholly owned subsidiary and make its first investment by purchasing spot BTC with a cap of $1 million, or about 155 million yen. The company, formerly known as Hotta Marusho, changed to its current name in 2025, and after receiving investment from Bakkt had planned to shift its business toward the digital asset sector, but it has never purchased any bitcoin until now. In July it disclosed a plan to allocate 662 million yen to BTC purchases, but it did not clarify the specific timing or quantity of acquisition, and in an exclusive interview with NADA NEWS published on August 20, CEO Philip Lord acknowledged that holdings were zero and took a cautious stance on the timing of purchases. The purchase will be funded in part by proceeds from convertible bonds with share subscription rights issued in July. The company's policy is to manage the asset as a long-term strategic holding rather than for short-term trading or maximizing the quantity held, focusing first on acquiring, holding, and managing spot BTC, and once its framework is in place, it will also consider investing in related products, hedging, and lending.
Ethereum After Hawkish Fed Signal: Three Whale Buying Levels
With the Federal Reserve deciding on September 16 to raise rates by 25 basis points and signaling further tightening, Ethereum plunged 5% on Tuesday to a two-week low of $2,358, then rebounded about 2% on Wednesday to roughly $2,400 to $2,450. The FOMC voted 12-0 to raise the target range for the policy rate by 25bp to 3.75%-4.00%, and in its summary of economic projections, a majority of 12 of the 18 participating policymakers forecast another 25bp hike by the end of 2026, while the median core inflation forecast was raised to 3.4%. According to Polymarket data, the probability of a second 25bp hike has risen to 66% from 43% just 24 hours before the September 16 FOMC meeting. Three price levels where past large whale trades clustered are cited: 8,077 trades on August 21 at a median price of about $2,434, 8,814 trades on June 5 at an average price of about $1,635, and 7,644 trades on May 6 at an average price of about $2,293. A clear break below $2,434 would expose the next whale activity zone. Prediction markets put the probability of reaching a $2,750 target at 69% and the $3,000 psychological threshold at 48%, while the probability of falling below $2,000 stands at just 18%.
Goldman Sachs Flips Fed Call Twice in Four Days, Now Sees October Rate Hike
Goldman Sachs reversed its Federal Reserve rate forecast twice in four days, telling clients on the morning of September 15, 2026 that it expected a hike the next day but not another one as its baseline, then shifting within hours of the September 16 decision to call for another 25-basis-point increase in October. The second change followed the Fed's updated rate projections, higher inflation forecasts, and Chair Kevin Warsh's comments on financial conditions. The Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to raise its target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%, the first hike since 2023, and the dot plot showed 16 of 18 officials expecting at least one more hike this year while four projected two additional increases. The Fed also raised its 2026 headline Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation forecast to 3.7% and lifted its core inflation forecast. Bitcoin is trading near $76,300, up roughly 18% over the past month but about 34% below its level a year ago, while XRP is near $1.29 after gaining roughly 28% over the past month and remains about 56% lower year over year. An October hike would reach markets with less time to adjust than after September's fully priced move, and the 10-year Treasury yield crossed 5% this week for the first time since 2007.
Saylor Says Banks Can Lend Against Bitcoin Without Congress as Deutsche Bank Awaits BaFin Approval
Michael Saylor, Chairman of MicroStrategy, said banks will expand Bitcoin custody and lending without new legislation from Congress, arguing the SEC and CFTC can advance crypto rules under existing law while the CLARITY Act stalls. Saylor's case rests on Bitcoin's settled status as a CFTC-regulated commodity with SEC-approved spot ETFs, plus a series of interpretive letters the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued since March 2025 confirming national banks may custody crypto assets and execute trades at customer direction. Deutsche Bank announced this week that it plans to launch regulated custody for Bitcoin, Ethereum and select stablecoins for institutional and corporate clients by the end of 2026, and that launch is awaiting sign-off from BaFin, Germany's financial regulator, under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, whose transition period ended on July 1. The bank, which reported $2.217 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, holds a German crypto-custody authorization but still needs BaFin's approval for the specific service it announced, and that custody approval is the first piece any bank needs before it can lend against Bitcoin at all. Saylor's argument runs thin in one respect: OCC interpretive letters are guidance rather than statute and can be revoked by a future administration or a court challenge without a vote in Congress, whereas the CLARITY Act would lock Bitcoin's commodity status and banks' lending authority into law. Bitcoin-backed lending would let large holders borrow at bank rates instead of triggering a taxable sale, but the same structure works in reverse when prices fall, as happened in 2022 when Celsius, BlockFi and Voyager collapsed under forced selling, and the shift remains early since Deutsche Bank has not launched custody yet, let alone lending.
SEC and CFTC to Write Crypto Rules Alone After CLARITY Act Fails
SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig said their agencies will write crypto rules on their own authority after the CLARITY Act fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate on Tuesday, receiving only 50. Selig has directed CFTC staff to draft rules for a purpose-built exchange registration category covering leveraged retail crypto trading, which could give XRP spot markets a formal path to CFTC oversight for the first time. Atkins has unveiled the SEC's Regulation Crypto Assets framework, and an offering rule open for public comment until October 20 would let crypto projects raise money under clearer disclosure requirements. JPMorgan warns that agency rules are far less durable than legislation, since future administrations can reverse them or courts can strike them down, and Atkins himself has called rulemaking a head start on legislation rather than a replacement. XRP traded near $1.31 and Bitcoin around $76,000, with Bitcoin's bank custody path through the OCC, Fed, and FDIC never depending on the bill.
Tom Lee Calls Record Q4 Rally as Yardeni Cuts Target and Fed Hikes
Tom Lee said on September 15 that the fourth quarter could bring one of the biggest rallies of our lifetime, forecasting the S&P 500 to clear 8,200 by year-end, but the Federal Reserve raised rates less than 24 hours later and left the door open to another hike. Ed Yardeni cut his year-end S&P 500 target to 7,900 from 8,400 the next day, moved the old target to mid-2027, and raised his bearish-scenario odds to 30% from 20%, citing higher energy prices and a 10-year Treasury yield that hit 5.00% on September 15. Bitcoin trades at $76,600, down 34% from $116,484 a year ago and needing roughly a 53% gain to return to that level, while XRP at $1.30 is down 56% from $3.09 and would need more than a 130% gain to top $3, and Ethereum at $2,470 needs a 100% gain. Bitcoin's three-month correlation with the Nasdaq 100 has fallen sharply while its relationship with gold has climbed to its highest level in years, weakening the old assumption that crypto simply follows tech stocks. Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, holds 846,000 BTC and reported an $8.32 billion unrealized loss in its Q2 results in the July 30, 2026 8-K.
House Committee Advances Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act 38-5
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act by a bipartisan 38 to 5 vote, one day after the Senate rejected the CLARITY Act on September 15. The bill creates a de minimis exemption for network or transaction fees of $10 or less, though it does not exempt the underlying purchase, so buying a coffee with Bitcoin would still trigger a capital-gains calculation while the blockchain fee could be exempt; the exemption would not apply to service providers processing transactions for others. The bill also extends wash-sale rules to widely traded digital assets, ending the practice of selling Bitcoin at a loss and immediately repurchasing it to offset gains, and it establishes tax treatment for stablecoins, lending, mining, and staking. Representative Steven Horsford pushed for the small-transaction exemption during committee consideration, while an earlier proposal to defer taxes on mining and staking income until the assets were sold was dropped from the version that advanced. Representative Lloyd Doggett opposed the bill, arguing its provisions favor the crypto industry over broader taxpayer priorities, and no full House vote has been scheduled, with a larger year-end tax package a possible route.
SEC Takes Major Step Toward Putting Wall Street Stocks on Public Blockchains
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has taken one of its biggest steps yet toward bringing Wall Street stocks onto public blockchains. Michael Saylor reacted to the move, calling it a major breakthrough. The development marks one of the agency's most significant actions to date in the effort to place traditional equity trading on blockchain rails.
Strategy's Stretch Preferred Stock Returns Near $100 Par After Eight Buybacks
Strategy's preferred stock, known as Stretch, has climbed back near its $100 U.S. par value following a series of aggressive buybacks by the cryptocurrency acquirer. The preferred stock, which trades under the ticker STRC, closed at $97.07 U.S. per share on Sept. 17, up from under $75 U.S. at the end of June. Strategy has said it is focused on returning the preferred stock to its $100 U.S. par value. To that end, the company repurchased nearly 9.96 million preferred shares at a cost of $950.8 million U.S. at the end of July, and more recently bought another 1,420,467 shares between Sept. 8 and Sept. 13 for $139.3 million U.S. In all, Strategy has bought back its preferred stock on eight occasions since the end of June. The preferred stock carries a 12% annualized dividend yield and pays a distribution of $0.50 U.S. per share twice a month. Some investors have criticized the company's focus on the preferred stock and maintaining its par value, arguing it has diverted attention from accumulating Bitcoin, and Strategy has held off on Bitcoin purchases while buying back the preferred stock, even selling some BTC at a loss in recent months to raise cash. MSTR stock has declined 62% over the last 12 months to trade at $126.18 U.S. per share.
CleanSpark Seeks $2.23 Billion Junk Bond for Meta-Tied Data Center
CleanSpark Inc. is seeking to borrow roughly $2.23 billion through a junk-bond offering to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure tied to Meta Platforms Inc. The five-year notes will help finance construction of a data center in Sandersville, Georgia, according to a regulatory filing, with Morgan Stanley leading the offering. The Sandersville facility has been fully leased to Anviran LLC, a Meta subsidiary, under a $6.6 billion, 20-year contract, and Meta will serve as the guarantor of rent and operating expenses. It is the first junk-bond offering tied to a Meta data center, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, and the transaction is expected to price on Friday. Data center developers have sold roughly $39 billion of high-yield bonds so far this year, making technology the biggest issuing sector in the market, while Las Vegas-based CleanSpark, which has a market value of roughly $3.29 billion, is among a growing number of public Bitcoin mining companies becoming data-center operators to support artificial intelligence applications. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are also participating as underwriters.
SEC Rejects 19th XRP Short ETF as $1.11 Billion Exits Bitcoin and Ethereum Funds
The SEC rejected a nineteenth XRP short ETF while $1.11 billion flowed out of regulated spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs over just 48 hours. The two-day institutional outflow followed a synchronized shock: an unexpected Federal Reserve rate hike and the Senate's blocking of the CLARITY Act, which together triggered panic selling. The crypto market is now attempting a fragile relief bounce this morning as it tries to stabilize after the large-scale exit of institutional capital.
Canaan Posts $31.9 Million Q2 Revenue and $97.6 Million Net Loss as Bitcoin Prices Weigh
Canaan Inc. reported second quarter FY26 total revenue of $31.9 million, down from $100.2 million in Q2 FY25 and $62.7 million in the first quarter of 2026, alongside a net loss of $97.6 million that was far wider than the $11.1 million loss a year earlier. Product revenue fell to $13.6 million from $71.9 million, and mining revenue dropped to $17.7 million from $28.1 million, as weaker bitcoin prices cut both computing power sold and average selling prices; Canaan sold 2.5 EH/s of computing power in the quarter and its mining segment generated 243 bitcoins while staying cash-positive before depreciation. The company's quarter-end digital asset treasury reached a record 1,915.5 BTC and roughly 3,952 ETH as of June 30, but fair value changes on financial derivatives and cryptocurrency holdings swung to losses of $8.9 million and $9.3 million from year-earlier gains of $23.4 million and $10.6 million, and net foreign exchange losses totaled $3.0 million. Canaan guided third-quarter revenue to $11 million to $15 million, well below the $31.9 million just reported, citing continued weakness in market conditions and customer demand. Institutional sentiment remains weak, with only 6 hedge funds holding positions at the end of Q2 2026, unchanged from the prior quarter, and short interest at 8.90 percent; Invesco is the largest institutional stakeholder with 40.4 million shares, or 5.39 percent of outstanding shares, followed by Weiss Asset Management at 5.19 percent and Galaxy Digital at 1.56 percent.
CLARITY Act Stalls in US Senate, Winning Only 49 Votes of the 60 Needed
The CLARITY Act, a bill on cryptocurrency regulation in the United States, has stalled after a Senate vote on the 15th returned only 49 votes in favor to 50 against, short of the 60 needed for a procedural vote to open the way for the Senate to consider the bill further. The bill aims to answer which types of crypto should fall under the supervision of the US Securities and Exchange Commission or the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and how to set rules for the spot crypto market. Its core is to expand the role of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in overseeing the spot market. The two parties had negotiated, and a compromise draft ran more than 600 pages, but they still could not agree on several issues, especially rules on the ethics of public officials with interests tied to crypto businesses. This time, not only did Democratic members vote against it, but some Republican members also disagreed. After the vote result, the XRP coin fell nearly 10%, while ETH and SOL dropped about 5%. Bitcoin fell nearly 3% to around 76,000 dollars, although price moves over the same period also involved other market factors. From here, crypto regulation will remain the responsibility of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which can still issue rules and guidance, but rules from regulators are easier to change than laws passed by Congress. Attention must therefore be paid to new negotiations or political maneuvering after the midterm elections on November 3 and the new Congress early next year.
Zcash Surges 23% as Crypto Market Rebounds After Fed's First Rate Hike Since 2023
Zcash, a privacy-focused token, jumped as much as 23% over the past 24 hours, while Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies advanced overnight into Thursday morning Asia time, alongside a recovery in stock index futures, after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since 2023. ZEC traded near $1,369, while Bitcoin edged up less than 1% to around $76,258. Solana gained nearly 3% to just below $100. BNB and HYPE, the token of the Hyperliquid trading platform, rose more than 2%. Ether, XRP and Dogecoin gained between 1% and 2%. The ZEC surge coincided with comments from Matt Huang, co-founder of leading crypto investment firm Paradigm, who discussed ZEC's role as a privacy component complementing Bitcoin and disclosed that his firm holds ZEC, according to a post on the X platform. The broader crypto market recovery came after the Fed raised its policy rate by 0.25% to a range of 3.75% to 4%. Jeff Ko, chief analyst at ViaBTC, said in an email that Wednesday's rate hike was largely priced in and that the Fed appears to be signalling it does not currently foresee an aggressive tightening cycle, while the market seems relieved by the Fed's efforts to control inflation. S&P 500 futures rose 0.6% and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.7%, while Asian stocks gained 0.3% and the yield on 2-year US Treasury notes slipped 0.02% to 4.71% after hitting its highest level since 2024 in the previous session.
Senate Blocks CLARITY Act Debate as Bitcoin Falls to $75,000
Bitcoin fell to $74,913, a daily drop of about 4.3%, after the Senate voted 49 to 50 against cloture on a motion to proceed with debate on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, known as the CLARITY Act. Cloture required 60 votes, but four Republican senators joined Democrats in opposition, leaving the measure 11 votes short. The vote effectively stalls the bill after months of negotiations over a U.S. digital asset regulatory framework, and the odds of approval in 2026 on Polymarket plunged to 5% by early Wednesday. Across the crypto market, liquidations reached about $660 million, of which long positions accounted for $571.7 million, the largest long liquidation event since August 22. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $450.4 million, the largest single-day withdrawal since late June.
US House panel advances bill to create strategic Bitcoin reserve under Trump plan
The US House Financial Services Committee voted on Wednesday to advance a bill to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, which would enshrine President Donald Trump's plan to create a permanent Bitcoin holding into law. The committee pushed forward the American Reserve Modernization Act, which would direct the Treasury Department to store and maintain secure Bitcoin storage facilities, according to the text of the 19-page bill. Representative Bryan Steil, a Republican from Wisconsin, said during the meeting that digital assets continue to transform global markets and that the United States must modernize its strategic reserve to maintain leadership and financial stability. Previously, Representative Nick Begich and Senator Cynthia Lummis, both Republicans, introduced the bill more than a year ago as the BITCOIN Act, which called for additional Bitcoin purchases over a five-year period using a strategy that does not affect the federal budget. Meanwhile, Representative Bill Foster, a Democrat from Illinois, expressed concern that Bitcoin is not a good investment because of its high risk and volatility.
IREN has signed a roughly US$5.50 billion, five-year partnership with Nvidia tied to its fast-growing AI cloud services platform, prompting JPMorgan analyst Richard Choe to issue a rare double-upgrade on the company. The Nvidia deal sits alongside a US$3.65 billion GPU financing facility, and together the two agreements underpin IREN's goal of scaling to 480MW of AI Cloud capacity by the end of 2026. The company is also winding down Bitcoin mining and expanding vertically integrated AI infrastructure, a material redefinition of its core business model. IREN's narrative projects $8.7 billion in revenue and $504.8 million in earnings by 2029, while the most optimistic analysts had already assumed about US$14.7 billion in revenue and around US$1.3 billion in earnings by that year. The company still faces near-term pressure from sizeable capex, financing needs, and execution risk around large contracted projects.
Ethiopia cuts Bitcoin mining power by 77% to prioritize households
Ethiopia announced a 77% reduction in electricity supply to Bitcoin mining operations in order to allocate power to households as a priority, after the country suffered drought problems from the El Niño phenomenon that affected its hydropower generation. This measure reverses the situation from when Ethiopia once had cheap surplus electricity to now facing power shortages, and reflects growing pressure on the country's Bitcoin mining industry after the Bitcoin halving event reduced mining revenues. Meanwhile, Bitcoin miners and operators such as Phoenix Group must contend with rising costs and tighter energy constraints.
Fed Raises Rates for First Time in Three Years, Policy Rate to 3.75–4.00%; Chair Warsh Says 'Inflation Is Too High'
The U.S. Federal Reserve decided at its September 16 Federal Open Market Committee meeting to raise the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75–4.00%. The hike is the first in about three years, since July 2023, and the vote was unanimous at 12-0. Fed Chair Warsh said at a press conference that 'the plain fact is that inflation is too high, and it has stayed that way for too long,' explaining that the rate increase is a step to return inflation to the 2% target more quickly. In the latest economic projections, the median forecast for real GDP growth is 2.3% in 2026 and 2.4% in 2027, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.1% from 2026 through 2029. In the dot plot, 16 of the 18 FOMC participants expect at least one more rate hike during 2026, and the median policy rate came to 4.1% at the end of 2026, 4.1% at the end of 2027, and 3.9% at the end of 2028. Bitcoin swung sharply between 75,000 and 76,500 dollars during the press conference, and going forward the focus will be not only on further rate hikes but also on U.S. long-term yields, physical demand, and the profit-and-loss positions of short-term holders.
Fed Raises Benchmark Rate 25 Basis Points to 3.75%-4.00%
The Federal Reserve unanimously voted to raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, bringing the new target range to 3.75% to 4.00%. The unanimous vote marks the central bank's first rate hike in years, and Bitcoin reacted to the decision. The new target range of 3.75% to 4.00% represents a quarter-point increase from the prior level.
Bitcoin ETFs Shed $450 Million as CLARITY Act Fails Senate Vote
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted $450.4 million in combined net outflows on Sep. 15, erasing the prior session's $159.9 million inflow, after the Senate failed to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Fidelity's FBTC led the withdrawals at $214.8 million, followed by BlackRock's IBIT at $161.7 million and Grayscale's GBTC at $44.1 million, with IBIT and FBTC together accounting for roughly $376.5 million of the redemptions. The CLARITY Act fell short of the 60 votes needed to proceed, drawing only 50 in favor, with four Republican senators joining Democrats in opposition; Senator Thom Tillis changed his vote as a procedural step that preserves the possibility of reconsideration. The bill was intended to create a federal market structure for digital assets and clarify responsibilities between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Despite the outflow, net flows for September remained marginally positive at about $16.8 million, and markets were also bracing for a Federal Reserve decision, with a rate increase widely expected.
Bitcoin Slips Below $76,000 as Senate Stalls CLARITY Act
Bitcoin fell to around $75,800 on September 16, losing roughly 1.5%, after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, a market structure bill that would divide U.S. crypto oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The decline was far smaller than the losses suffered by other crypto assets, with XRP down nearly 8%, Ethereum down about 3% and Solana down 3.5%, while Coinbase dropped 8.65% as the regulatory disappointment landed hardest on crypto intermediaries rather than on Bitcoin itself. Rachael Lucas of BTC Markets said the legislation was never the binding constraint for Bitcoin, and U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which hold about 6.35% of Bitcoin's circulating supply, faced no immediate rule change because they already operate under existing SEC rules. Macro pressure was already building before the vote, with Brent crude closing at $108.75 and WTI at $105.83 after Saudi Arabia shut its East-West pipeline, the 10-year Treasury yield touching its highest intraday level since 2007, and CME FedWatch putting the odds of a 25-basis-point hike at the September 16 meeting between 88% and 94%. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $462.7 million of outflows over the four days through the week ending September 11, followed by a $160 million net inflow on September 14 and roughly $450 million of outflows on September 15, leaving traders watching $78,189 as the level that would signal the market is pricing out the regulatory discount, with $75,000, $74,000 and $72,000 as the key levels below.
Solana Falls to $97 After Senate Clarity Act Vote Fails
Solana fell about 3.4% over 24 hours to trade near $97 on Wednesday after the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, the CLARITY Act, on September 15, a vote that ended 49 yeas to 50 nays and fell short of the 60 votes Senate Rule XXII requires to end debate. Bitcoin dropped 1.2% to roughly $75,961 and XRP fell 9.4% to $1.28 over the same window, while Polymarket traders cut the odds of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 to 5% from 18.5% on Tuesday morning. The bill would lock Solana's commodity status into law, building on a March 2026 SEC and CFTC interpretation that named Solana one of 16 digital commodities, a classification a future Commission could reverse without Congress. Solana's critical support level sits at $94.16, with resistance at $98.77 and $99.42, and SOL trades below its 20-hour and 50-hour moving averages with MACD and ADX pointing to negative momentum. Senator Thune can bring the CLARITY Act back to the floor later in the session, but the setback makes passage in 2026 considerably harder.
Strategy Resumes Bitcoin Buying With 4,603 Coins for $370 Million
Strategy, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, has resumed buying Bitcoin after a summer of selling, adding 4,603 coins over three weeks for a total price of $370 million at an average of $80,318 per coin. The purchases are tiny relative to the market: they represent just 0.02% of Bitcoin's market cap and roughly 1.2% of a single day's Bitcoin trading volume, which hovered around $30 billion in the last month according to CoinMarketCap. Strategy holds 845,050 coins, about 4% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist, but its largest-ever weekly buy added only 55,500 coins, or 0.28% of the supply available at the time just before Thanksgiving 2024. The company's track record suggests its buying does not steer prices: in January it spent $3.4 billion on 35,932 coins at prices around $91,519 and $95,284, and Bitcoin subsequently fell, with Strategy's average purchase price sliding from $87,974 to $67,710 by mid-February. Strategy's net Bitcoin acquired in the third quarter is negative 950, so the largest corporate holder has started buying again but is not yet a net buyer for the quarter.
Analyst Model Sees 97% Upside for Strategy if Bitcoin Reclaims $120,000
Strategy, the company formerly known as MicroStrategy, could see its shares reach $400 if Bitcoin reclaims $120,000, according to a 24/7 Wall St. model that projects 96.7% upside to a base-case target of $254.93. The stock trades at $129.60, down 14.71% year to date and 60.46% over one year, with a beta of 3.597, after Bitcoin closed at $75,584 on September 15. The company holds 846,000 BTC at an average cost near $76,000, and CEO Phong Le said it grew bitcoin holdings by 11% while reducing convertible debt by 18% to $6.7 billion. Wall Street's consensus price target is $226.20 across 2 strong buys, 12 buys, and 1 hold, while the model's bull scenario reaches $391.94. The thesis hinges on Bitcoin holding above $120,000, a favorable resolution to MSCI delisting risk that Polymarket traders price at 78%, and continued growth in Bitcoin-per-share, which management grew 5% in the second quarter.
Bitcoin Trades Near $76,000 as Fed Rate Decision Looms Before Q4
Bitcoin is trading near $76,000, down 1% over the past 24 hours and roughly 13% year-to-date, with 15 days left before the fourth quarter begins and the Federal Reserve set to deliver its first rate hike in three years. The Fed's decision, due at 2:00 p.m. ET alongside a new dot plot, is expected to lift the upper end of the federal funds rate from 3.75% to 4.00%, while Bank of America expects further hikes in October and December that would take rates to a 4.25% to 4.50% range by year-end, a more aggressive path than current futures pricing reflects. Bitcoin's market cap sits at $1.52 trillion, its 24-hour volume has risen roughly 28% to $37.63 billion, and its realized price is $53,600, leaving the average holder well above cost. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $462.7 million in net outflows over the four days ending September 11, interrupting a $3.8 billion three-week inflow streak, though flows turned positive again on September 14. Prediction markets put Bitcoin's year-end price near its 50-week moving average of about $81,000, with Kalshi's September 15 market pricing the December 31 close near $81,000 and Polymarket giving Bitcoin a 51% chance of touching $90,000 before year-end and a 26% chance of touching $100,000.
Fed Set to Hike Rates for First Time Since 2023 as Bitcoin, XRP and Ethereum Slide
The Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision at 2 PM ET on September 16, 2026, with the CME FedWatch tool putting the probability of a 25 basis point increase at 92%, which would lift the target range from 3.50%-3.75% to 3.75%-4.00% and mark the first rate increase since 2023. The decision comes a day after the Senate blocked the CLARITY Act, and ahead of it Bitcoin is trading near $75,903, down 1.44% over 24 hours, XRP is at approximately $1.29, down 7.98%, and Ethereum is at about $2,404, down 3.18%. The Fed has held its target range for five consecutive meetings, with three members dissenting in favor of a hike in July, while August inflation rose 3.4% year over year and core inflation stood at 2.4%. Standard Chartered analysts John Davies and Steve Englander have urged waiting, arguing market expectations have inflated on limited incoming data, a caution echoed by Kevin Warsh, who has expressed skepticism about the dot plot and excluded his own forecast from the June release. Analysts including BMO and Franklin Templeton's Jeff Schulze expect multiple increases ahead, and traders are watching Bitcoin's $74,000 to $78,189 range, with a close below $74,000 confirming a hawkish reading and a close above $78,189 signaling an unexpected hold.
Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood Edge Higher After Senate Blocks Clarity Act
Coinbase Global shares rose 1% to $174 in early Wednesday trading even after the U.S. Senate rejected cloture on the Clarity Act, the digital-asset market structure bill, by a tally of 50 in favor and 49 against, short of the 60 votes needed to advance. Four Republican senators joined Democrats in voting against the measure, which the president had publicly backed and which the crypto industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying to pass. Strategy stock climbed 1% to $130.66 and Robinhood Markets rose 0.57% to $111.08, with both names having already priced in a defeat before the vote. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF slipped 0.2% to $43.03 while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust gained 0.35% to $760.03, leaving the Bitcoin proxy lower even as crypto equities and the broad tape traded green. With Congress heading toward recess ahead of the midterms, regulatory momentum for the sector may shift from legislation to actions by the SEC and the CFTC, while the next catalysts for Strategy and Robinhood run through Bitcoin's price and the Federal Reserve decision later today.