Bitcoin reached a two-week high on Friday as the cryptocurrency market absorbed a Federal Reserve rate hike and the Senate’s failure to advance the Clarity Act, which would have established a federal framework for digital assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. securities regulator, then issued a conditional exemption allowing certain tokenized stocks (shares represented on blockchain) to trade on blockchains for five years. Bitcoin’s advance appeared largely technical, supported by bullish derivatives positioning, U.S. spot ETF inflows and short covering that carried it above the psychologically important $80,000 level. Ether, Binance and Solana outperformed bitcoin over the past month, gaining 35%, 25% and 41%, respectively, while the overall crypto market capitalization rose to $2.66 trillion. Strategists have cited bitcoin’s recovery from a cyclical bottom as evidence that the crypto winter may be ending. Bitcoin gained roughly 25% in August but remains down 8% year to date.