Crypto

The Fed Hiked and Bitcoin Held 76,000 While Privacy Coins Led the Rally

By Omar aka Crypt0 · Sep 17, 2026

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in more than three years on Wednesday, and bitcoin answered with a shrug and a green candle. The real fireworks came from privacy coins: Zcash touched a fresh all time high and Dash extended a two day surge. In a week when Washington moved on both monetary policy and sanctioned crypto, the market priced one message above all: privacy is premium.

The macro setup first. The Fed lifted its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to the 3.75 to 4 percent range in a unanimous vote, with officials' projections pointing to at least one more increase this year. Bitcoin dipped after the decision, then steadied around $76,200 on Thursday, rising half a percent to $76,474 in early trading as US stock futures pointed to recovery, per Barron's. The structure underneath stayed constructive: bitcoin held above its 50, 100, and 200 day exponential moving averages near $73,695, $71,495, and $73,237.

Glassnode's Wednesday read added texture. Bitcoin slipped just under the True Market Mean of $76,700, the average price paid by active investors, and the Realized Cap metric logged its first daily outflow in 28 days. Yet exchange balances kept declining, with the 30 day net position change still negative: holders are moving coins into self custody rather than preparing to sell. US spot ETFs recorded about $334 million in net outflows between September 8 and 14, a breather after nearly $1 billion poured in during September's first days.

Then the privacy trade took over. Zcash extended its rally to a fresh all time high of $1,388 on Thursday. The catalyst stack is fundamental, grounded in protocol upgrades rather than hype. Zcash holders voted decisively for NU7, the network's next major upgrade, which cuts confirmation intervals to 25 seconds while preserving the Bitcoin inspired halving schedule; nearly 2.4 million of the 3.6 million ZEC at stake backed the decision. Separately, Zcash Labs committed $80,000 toward integrating the Ironwood shielded pool into Ledger devices, putting private self custody within reach of hardware wallet users.

Dash joined the move, rising 4 percent Thursday on top of 11 percent gains the previous day, holding well above its trio of moving averages at $45.66, $41.51, and $39.81. The technical map points next to the 78.6 percent Fibonacci retracement at $63.83, with the September 6 high at $78.68 beyond it. Two privacy coins leading the market on Fed day is a statement about what this cycle values.

The deeper read connects to Washington's other crypto action this week. With the US moving to seize $61 million in USDT tied to Iranian oil, the market is rewarding the coins built to keep transaction details private by design. Sound money that holds its value through a rate hike plus privacy tech that keeps maturing: that combination is the bull case writing itself.

From the sidelines, the takeaway stays calm and clear. Bitcoin absorbed the first hike of a new tightening cycle and stayed above every major trendline, while the privacy sector showed where the next leg of innovation is compounding. Patience keeps looking like the winning position.

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