Bitcoin Holds $75K After the Fed's First Hike Since 2023 — Crypto's Trend Day, Explained
Photo by Jack B on Unsplash
Crypto traders got the volatility they were bracing for this week, but not quite in the direction most expected. Here's what's actually moving the market today.
The Fed hiked — and Bitcoin didn't collapse
On September 16, the Federal Open Market Committee raised its target rate by 25 basis points, lifting it to a range of 3.75% to 4.00% — the first increase since 2023. The move had been almost fully priced in by markets ahead of time, which is a big part of why Bitcoin didn't fall off a cliff once the announcement hit.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh described the economy as strengthening and said he was reluctant to call financial conditions restrictive, even as the committee stays focused on returning inflation to its 2% target. That tone read as hawkish to a lot of desks, since it leaves the door open to further tightening rather than signaling a pause.
Bitcoin dipped toward $75,000 on the news and has so far avoided a deeper breakdown, even with tighter policy and another round of spot Bitcoin ETF outflows working against it. Traders are now watching $75,000 as the key short-term line in the sand — hold it, and buyers may get another shot at the $77,000–$78,000 zone; lose it, and attention shifts to the $71,500–$73,600 support area.
Why the setup was already shaky
The hike landed on top of an already rough week for crypto. Bitcoin's move came just a day after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, adding yet another source of uncertainty for the industry. That failure effectively ends market-structure legislative efforts in the Senate for 2026 — a real setback after years and hundreds of millions of dollars the industry put into pushing it forward.
Altcoins felt it more sharply than Bitcoin. XRP dropped nearly 8% to around $1.29 and Ethereum slid roughly 3% to about $2,404 in the run-up to the decision. Bitcoin's slide below $76,000 also triggered the largest short-term-holder capitulation event of the month, as weaker-handed buyers threw in the towel.
Bad macro news and a stalled legislative path — yet Bitcoin is still standing in the mid-$70,000s rather than breaking down outright.
Not everyone is running scared
A couple of counter-signals are worth flagging. Bitcoin miner MARA made a notable move in the other direction, buying roughly $100 million in BTC as part of its broader AI-driven expansion. On the charts, a TD Sequential buy signal flashed on Bitcoin's 4-hour timeframe just ahead of the Fed decision — a pattern some traders read as a sign the recent selling is getting exhausted, even if it's no guarantee.
Elsewhere in market-structure news, the SEC opened a roundtable on 24-hour equity trading at its Washington headquarters today, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET with Chairman Paul Atkins and the full commission taking part. It's a traditional-markets story on paper, but one crypto-native traders are watching closely given how much of the industry's pitch has always centered on always-on markets.
The bottom line
The macro backdrop just got tighter, and the legislative path just got harder — yet Bitcoin is still standing in the mid-$70,000s rather than breaking down outright. That combination of bad news and stubborn price action is exactly the kind of setup that tends to keep both bulls and bears on edge into next week.
