Altcoins staged a broad rally as Bitcoin and Ether recovered despite the U.S. Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act and a Federal Reserve rate increase. As of Sept. 23, 294 of the top 300 tokens by market capitalization had risen, while their simple average weekly gain exceeded 20%. Smaller tokens led the move, with Bedrock rising 393%, Derive 174%, ZAMA 108% and STONK 105%. Major altcoins also outperformed Bitcoin and Ether, with NEAR up 88.5%, Bitcoin Cash 63.5%, Uniswap 63.4%, Aptos 57%, Arbitrum 52.9% and Avalanche 52.6%, compared with Bitcoin’s 13.2% gain and Ether’s 13.9%. Catalysts included CME Group’s planned Oct. 19 launch of UNI and BCH futures, subject to regulatory review; the SEC’s five-year temporary Innovation Exemption for qualifying venues trading tokenized U.S.-listed shares; and privacy, AI and ecosystem developments. Analysts cited capital rotation into altcoins, lower volatility, declining Tether dominance and potentially lower U.S. Treasury yields as supportive factors, while warning that a sharp correction remains possible.