Cryptocurrency markets rallied following the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision on Thursday, with Bitcoin climbing 0.88% over 24 hours to $76,621 and Ether gaining 1.1% to $2,444.36.
The Federal Open Market Committee raised the target rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4%, marking the first increase since July 2023. Chair Kevin Warsh acknowledged that inflation had been "too high … for too long," though he noted recent readings did not suggest meaningful improvement in underlying trends.
Traders focused on the Fed's forward guidance rather than the rate hike itself. The committee's projections indicated a median policy rate of 4.1% at the end of both 2026 and 2027, implying only one additional 25 basis-point move and no sustained tightening cycle. This modest outlook supported risk assets broadly, with the Dollar Index declining 0.17% and equity index futures rising alongside gold and silver.
Crypto gains were broad-based but concentrated at smaller tokens. Among the CoinDesk 100 constituents, 94 traded higher over 24 hours. The small-cap CoinDesk 80 index advanced 4.7%, compared with 1.2% for the Bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5. Solana rose 2% to $100.57.
Privacy token Zcash led the rally, jumping 23% to approximately $1,369—its highest level on record—after investment firm Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed the company's ownership stake. The announcement followed this week's governance vote supporting a reduction in block times while maintaining the Bitcoin-style halving schedule. Rival privacy token Monero slipped 0.97% to $494.14.
Other notable gainers included NEAR Protocol, up 16% to $2.82 over 24 hours, and Venice Token, recovering 14% to $25.45.
Despite the rally, crypto funding flows remained negative. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $295.98 million on Wednesday, adding to $450.33 million in outflows the previous day. Since September 8, these funds have shed more than $1 billion across seven sessions, with total net assets falling to $95.19 billion. Bitcoin remained 6.9% below its monthly high of $82,284 set on September 4.
Derivatives positioning showed traders adding exposure during the rally. Aggregate open interest across crypto futures climbed to $64.4 billion from $59.7 billion earlier in the week. Bitcoin open interest rose 1.41% to $26.6 billion, while Ether open interest added 1.39% to $16.7 billion. Zcash open interest surged 37.84% to $2.2 billion, with the funding rate in negative territory even as the token reached new highs, indicating traders betting against the rally had been consistently squeezed.
