Bitcoin briefly fell after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on September 16, 2026, but recovered above $80,000 within two days. The increase lifted the federal funds target range from 3.5%-3.75% to 3.75%-4% and marked the Fed’s first hike since July 2023. Policymakers voted 12-0, citing elevated inflation and rising energy costs, while signaling that at least one more increase could come before the end of 2026. Markets had largely anticipated the move, with CME FedWatch putting the probability of a hike at 92.9% on the morning of the announcement. Bitcoin fell to about $75,900 as investors also reacted to the Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act, prompting $746 million in spot Bitcoin ETF outflows across two sessions. It later stabilized near $76,500, briefly reached $77,000 on September 17 and traded near $81,700 on September 19. Spot Bitcoin ETFs then recorded $159 million of net inflows, led by BlackRock’s IBIT with $184 million, while Bitcoin rose more than 5% on September 18 and cleared $80,000 for the first time since September 7. Grayscale head of research Zach Pandl characterized the hike as a mid-cycle adjustment, contrasting it with the 11 increases between March 2022 and July 2023 that lifted rates by 5.25 percentage points. The firm’s argument is that a single quarter-point increase has a much smaller effect on the opportunity cost of holding Bitcoin than the aggressive 2022-23 tightening cycle. Bitcoin also has a broader institutional investor base through spot ETFs, which held roughly $99 billion in net assets, although flows remain volatile. Risks remain if higher oil prices, persistent inflation, rising Treasury yields, further rate increases or renewed ETF outflows produce a more restrictive environment. Fed projections show rates near 4.1% through 2027, with cuts not appearing until 2028 and 2029. The article also promotes KuCoin 5.0, which it says will launch in October with unified accounts, access to stocks, indices and commodities, tokenized real-world assets, KCUSD yields, an AI assistant, a redesigned app, a MiCAR-licensed EU entity, Proof of Reserves, and SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 security certifications. It says the information may come from third parties, is not financial advice, and that digital-asset investing carries inherent risks.