Bitcoin Round-Trips the First Fed Rate Increase Since 2023 as Zcash Runs to $1,383

The Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday raised its benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.75%–4.00%, marking the first hike since July 2023. The decision passed unanimously at the meeting, and the committee’s dot-plot median now sees the federal funds rate at 4.1% at the end of 2026, up from a June projection of 3.8%, implying room for one more quarter-point increase this year. The Fed noted inflation remains elevated and said the action supports progress toward its 2% objective, while observing that job gains and economic activity remain solid.

Markets reacted sharply in the minutes after the statement. Bitcoin registered a rapid spike to $76,499.99 within five minutes of the announcement but gave most of that gain back within about half an hour, trading around $75,928 on CoinGecko by the close. Ether was trading at $2,402, up 0.4% on the day. Overall, weighted by market value, the 500 largest tokens were up 0.75% over 24 hours but fell 2.7% over seven days, with 87 of the 123 largest non-stablecoins rising during the session.

Certain altcoins outperformed: Zcash surged to $1,383.30 in the quarter-hour beginning at 2 p.m. ET, above its previous September 9 high, and closed the session at $1,320.12 for an 18.9% gain on $2.19 billion in exchange volume. Other notable movers included Arbitrum (+14%), Raydium (+13.9%), and Dash (+12.2%). Total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.68 trillion on $93.5 billion of volume, with bitcoin dominance at about 56.84%.

Traditional risk assets and rates tracked different paths. The S&P 500 closed lower at 7,551.81, and gold lost ground after briefly rallying earlier in the day. Treasury yields rose: the 10-year par yield closed at 5.01%, its highest close since July 2007, while the two-year finished at 4.74%, a 2026 high. The Fed’s updated projections also raised forecasts for inflation metrics and left the median longer-run rate at 3.2%, reflecting tighter expected policy over the medium term.