Bitcoin Held Its Ground Through a Fed Hike and a Failed Bill
2026-09-18
September has been Bitcoin's worst month on average since 2013, delivering roughly a 3% loss. This September it arrived alongside the Federal Reserve's first rate rise in more than three years and the collapse of the CLARITY Act vote. Bitcoin ended the week of 18 September 2026 near $76,000-$78,000, down about 1.5% on the month and still up roughly 32% on the quarter.
Two headwinds in one week
The Federal Reserve raised its target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%, its first increase since 2023, and the Bank of Japan also raised rates. A day earlier the Senate's CLARITY Act vote failed. Bitcoin briefly traded below $74,900 on the Tuesday before stabilising — a contained reaction that reporting at the time read as the market having already priced much of the risk.
The quarter tells a different story than the month
August's roughly 25% rally took Bitcoin to around $81,000. Holding most of that through September leaves it on course for its first positive quarterly close since the third quarter of 2025, after a drawdown that had taken it close to $60,000 in late August from a peak above $126,000 in October 2025. Commentators have credited renewed ETF demand and a firmer options market.
How we read moves like this
We do not forecast prices, and you should be sceptical of an exchange that does. What is verifiable is behaviour: volatility weeks change what swapping costs. Spreads widen when providers are uncertain, quotes go stale faster, and the gap between the best and worst offer for the same pair grows. That is the part that decides what actually lands in your wallet, and it is measurable rather than predictive.
What to do about it in practice
On a volatile day, compare the amount you receive rather than the headline rate, and consider a fixed rate if your deposit may take a while to confirm — it costs a small premium and removes the movement risk while the network catches up. SwapRocket quotes several providers side by side for every pair and adds no fee of its own to the rate you see. Our live market update and coin pages carry current figures; the numbers in this article are a snapshot of one week and will age.
Sources
Reporting this article relies on. Open each one and check it for yourself.
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Three steps, no account and no ID. SwapRocket compares live rates across every connected provider and sends the coins straight to your own wallet.
- 1Pick the pair and the amount you want to exchange — the widget shows the compared rate before you commit.
- 2Paste the wallet address that should receive the funds, then confirm the quote.
- 3Send your deposit to the address shown. The swap settles automatically, usually in minutes.
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