The Federal Reserve raised interest rates, and the CLARITY Act faced setbacks.

In the past 48 hours, the cryptocurrency market has been hit by two important pieces of news.

However, BTC did not continue to break downward.

After the FOMC raised rates by 25bp on September 16, BTC briefly dropped to around $75,000, then quickly rebounded, oscillating repeatedly in the $75,000–$76,500 range.

More notably, after the procedural vote failure of the CLARITY Act, BTC had already experienced a round of decline and long liquidations.

Two pieces of bad news landed consecutively, yet the market did not exhibit further one-sided downturns.

First, let's look at the summary

• The Federal Reserve raised rates by 25bp with a 12-0 vote, increasing the interest rate range to 3.75%-4.00%;
• 16 policymakers expect at least one more rate hike by 2026, indicating that the market is not facing just a one-time rate increase;
• BTC experienced sharp oscillations between $75,000 and $76,500 around the resolution, with $75,000 becoming a key position in the short term;
• The procedural advancement failure of the CLARITY Act resulted in a noticeable decline in BTC and crypto-related stocks;
• The current core contradiction in the market has shifted from "Will the Federal Reserve raise rates?" to How long can high rates last, and when will U.S. regulation be pushed forward again?

25bp has landed, the real hawkishness lies in the subsequent path

This rate hike itself was not surprising.

The FOMC voted 12-0 in favor of the decision, raising the interest rate range to 3.75%-4.00%. What is more concerning is the dot plot: most officials still expect at least one more rate hike this year, with the median interest rate forecast for the end of 2026 at about 4.1%.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has raised its 2026 PCE inflation forecast to 3.7%, still significantly away from the 2% target.

This means that the market is not facing "the end of rate hikes," but rather a rate path that may continue to tighten.

Therefore, the rebound in BTC after the resolution is closer to a short-term repricing after expected fulfillment rather than a sudden shift to a loose macro environment.

$75,000 has become the true observation point for the market

After the FOMC announcement, BTC swiftly triggered buy and sell orders.

The Block data shows that BTC primarily traded in the $75,000–$76,500 range after the resolution announcement, with the price briefly approaching $75,000 before rebounding.

Prior to this, regulatory news had already triggered a round of deleveraging.

After the setbacks with the CLARITY Act, BTC dipped to around $75,900, while ETH saw its decline extend to over 4%, and XRP fell more than 9% at one point.

Subsequently, leveraged funds further amplified the volatility. Market data shows that within 24 hours after the setback of the CLARITY Act, long liquidations in the crypto market reached approximately $571 million.

Thus, the contest around $75,000 currently is not just a price point.

It also corresponds to the liquidity area after the previous decline, serving as a critical position for assessing whether leveraged positions will continue to contract.

Regulatory expectations may be more easily underestimated by the market than rate hikes

If the interest rate hike has already been anticipated by the market, then the failure of the CLARITY Act represents a new variable.

This bill originally aimed to establish a clearer federal regulatory framework for digital assets, but the recent procedural vote failed to reach the 60-vote threshold.

However, this does not mean that U.S. crypto regulation has stalled.

After the Senate vote failed, both the SEC and CFTC have signaled their readiness to leverage existing authority to advance regulatory rules for crypto assets. In other words, the market's focus may now shift from "When will Congress pass the bill?" to What will regulatory agencies do first?

This is also a point that the current market tends to overlook:

The setback of the CLARITY Act does not equate to a pause in U.S. crypto regulation.

It simply means that the originally clear legislative path has suddenly become uncertain.

BTC is now trading not just on interest rates

In the past few months, the market has often simplified BTC price movements to ETF funds, interest rate cut expectations, and dollar liquidity.

However, the market in September is changing.

On one hand, the Federal Reserve has re-entered the interest rate hike cycle, and on the other hand, the U.S. crypto regulatory legislation has encountered setbacks; meanwhile, BTC has experienced a large-scale leveraged liquidation near $75,000.

With these three variables overlapping, the market is beginning to shift from a singular "macro trading" approach to a comprehensive pricing informed by interest rates + regulation + liquidity.

Therefore, what’s truly worth observing next is not the already occurred news of "the Federal Reserve has raised rates by 25bp," but rather three numbers:

$75,000 support for BTC, the interest rate range of about 4%, and whether the CLARITY Act will re-enter the legislative process.

Whether these three can show new changes may determine if the crypto market continues to oscillate for digestion or finds a new direction.

If you are also paying attention to the Crypto market and want to participate in trading or asset allocation, you can register through the following exclusive channels and enjoy discounts:

Binance: Register through the exclusive link and fill in the invitation code aicoin668 to enjoy a 10% rebate.  

Registration link: https://jump.do/zh-Hans/xlink-proxy?id=3

Welfare group: https://www.aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=gmLgwvKD1

OKX: Register through the AiCoin exclusive link to enjoy a permanent 20% rebate.  

Registration link: https://jump.do/zh-Hans/xlink?checkProxy=true&proxyId=2

Welfare group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=l61eM4owQ

Bitget: Register through the AiCoin exclusive channel to enjoy a 10% fee rebate

Registration link:   https://jump.do/zh-Hans/xlink-proxy?id=6

Welfare group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=N63yYYKQ

You are also welcome to join AiCoin-related communities to get more information on new coins from exchanges and profits from coins:  

Official Telegram group: https://t.me/aicoin_support

AiCoin Chinese Twitter: https://x.com/AiCoinzh

The content of this article represents the author's personal views and does not reflect the position of this platform. The views, conclusions, and suggestions in the text are for investors' reference only and do not constitute any investment advice related to this platform. The market has risks, and investment should be cautious.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。