Crypto market sinks as Fed hike odds climb above 92%

The crypto market has lost more than 2% of its value, pushing Bitcoin below $76,000 as traders prepare for a likely Federal Reserve rate hike and a key Senate vote on the CLARITY Act.  SummaryThe global crypto market capitalization fell more than 2% to about $2.6 trillion.Bitcoin dropped over 3% and traded below the $76,000 level.Fed futures placed the probability of a 25-basis-point rate increase above 92%.The Senates CLARITY Act cloture vote presents another source of uncertainty for traders.  Crypto market loses $76,000 Bitcoin support  Data from the crypto market showed widespread losses on Sept. 15, with the total value of digital assets falling to around $2.6 trillion as investors reduced risk before two major U.S. events.  Bitcoin (BTC) dropped more than 3% and moved below $76,000 after failing to hold its earlier gains. Losses also spread across major altcoins, while U.S.-listed companies with direct exposure to crypto came under pressure.  The decline accelerated as traders assessed the Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled for Sept. 15–16. Futures tied to the federal funds rate placed the probability of a 25-basis-point increase above 92%, making a hike the markets main expectation rather than a low-probability risk.  An increase of that size would lift the Feds target range

09-16Industry

XRP gets 26% share in Grayscale's 'next gen' portfolio - No space for Bitcoin

Grayscale has come up with ready-made crypto investment portfolios that financial advisors can use for their clients, but there is something unusual. The investment giant launched four different model portfolios, each with a different purpose.  In this, the “Digital Assets Core Plus portfolio” is designed as a broad, foundational crypto allocation and includes Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Solana [SOL], and Chainlink [LINK].  Meanwhile, ‘Digital Assets Leaders’ focuses on the five largest eligible crypto assets available through Grayscales single-asset products. Whereas “Digital Assets Next Gen” is designed to give investors exposure to crypto assets beyond Bitcoin, including both established and emerging projects.  Finally, “Digital Assets Infrastructure” focuses on assets tied to protocols that support areas such as smart contracts and tokenization.  Grayscale gives more weightage to XRP than Bitcoin  Now the catch here is that Ripples XRP has received a huge allocation in the Digital Assets Next Gen portfolio. As of the 31st of August, the portfolio had seven holdings, with Ethereum at 42.34%, XRP at 26.11%, and Solana at 21.09%.  Bitcoin, however, has been left out of this portfolio. Together, those three assets account for roughly 90% of the portfolio. Meanwhile, the remaining allocation is spread across Hyperliquid [HYPE], LINK, Avalanche [AVAX], and Sui [SUI].  Interestingly, Grayscale

09-16Industry

Trump ethics fight sinks CLARITY Act in dramatic Senate defeat

The CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate after a final round of bipartisan negotiations broke down and several Democrats who helped shape the bill refused to advance it.  Related Law CLARITY Act: US Digital Asset Market Structure United States · Passed  The measure failed to secure the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed with H.R. 3633, preventing the most consequential US crypto market-structure proposal from reaching the Senate floor.  While the vote did not decide the bills final passage, falling short leaves the legislation off the floor and forces its sponsors to decide whether another round of negotiations is possible.  The outcome was particularly damaging because Democrats who had spent months working on the legislation opposed it. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Warner, Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, Ruben Gallego, Angela Alsobrooks and Catherine Cortez Masto all voted against moving forward.  Their defections followed an unsuccessful attempt to close remaining differences over ethics rules shortly before the vote.  Senate staff had reportedly met in the Capitol hideaway office of Sen. Thom Tillis to discuss possible final changes to restrictions governing crypto interests held by public officials. Staff working for Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott later ended the talks without an agreement.  That left

09-16Industry

Arc Blockchain Mainnet Launch Set for September 2026

Circles long-awaited Layer 1 network is about to go live, and the timing has drawn an unusual mix of institutional players and speculative traders to the same starting line. The Arc Blockchain mainnet launchis scheduled for September 16, 2026, arriving with a validator lineup that includes names like BlackRock, Visa and Mastercard alongside a growing roster of decentralized finance projects hoping to capture retail attention from day one, according to BeInCrypto.  Key takeawaysArc Blockchains public mainnet launches on September 16, 2026, with transaction fees denominated in USDC rather than a native gas token.Circle opened the network with 11 founding validators drawn from traditional finance, including BlackRock, Visa and Mastercard, according to BeInCrypto.Six early projects — aka.fun, UnitFlow, Synthra, Tower, Hibachi and Sidoor — are building out the Arc DeFi ecosystem ahead of launch.aka.fun applies a 2% trading fee, funneling 30% of it into a real-world asset treasury.Traders are already positioning for a meme coin rush similar to what happened on Robinhood Chain after its July 2026 debut, BeInCrypto reports.  Arc Blockchain Mainnet Launch Details  Arc goes live as a Layer 1 network purpose-built for financial applications, with every transaction fee paid in USDC instead of a separate gas token. That design choice is

09-16Industry

Crypto Reacts: Bitcoin Slides as Clarity Act Fails to Clear Senate Vote

In briefThe Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act Tuesday, after 50 senators voted against it.Bitcoin slid from a session high near $77,200 to a low around $75,600 as the no votes mounted, before paring losses to trade near $75,800, down about 3.2% on the day.The Digital Chamber, a crypto trade group, called the result a “setback” rather than a defeat and said it would keep pushing for the bills passage.  The Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act Tuesday afternoon, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill to debate. Senators voted 49 in favor and 50 against, dooming the bill that needed at least seven Democrats to cross over.  The crypto market did not like the outcome, as you might expect, with Bitcoin sliding as the “no” votes came in and the bills outcome looked certain. Bitcoin is down 1.3% in the last hour during the vote, and almost 4% on the day, as it trades around $76,000.  Myriad: Will Congress pass the Clarity Act? Click to make your prediction.  Tuesdays vote was a cloture motion on H.R. 3633, not a final vote on the bill itself. Cloture only

09-16Industry

How US Authorities Tracked $1.5B in Iranian Oil Crypto Flows

Prosecutors seek $61 million in crypto tied to a $1.5 billion illicit Iranian oil network.The DOJ said Hong Kong firms used Binance accounts to handle Iranian oil funds.Blockchain analysis linked addresses via transaction patterns and token flows.  US prosecutors want to seize about $61 million in crypto they say is linked to a much bigger network that moved more than $1.5 billion from illegal Iranian oil sales.  According to the US Department of Justice, the operation involved two Hong Kong-based companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, which allegedly used Binance crypto trading accounts to handle money from Iranian oil and petroleum sales. Prosecutors say the funds ultimately went to the Iranian government, Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and related groups.  How the $1.5 Billion Was Moved  Reportedly, the scheme started with Iranian oil being sold to buyers in China. The DOJ stated that Iranian players often use shell companies, middlemen, and a shadow fleet to move sanctioned oil by using fake paperwork and doctored shipping records to hide the origin of the crude.  The proceeds then entered a network of cryptocurrency companies and wallets. Blessed Trust supposedly provided on-ramp services, converting fiat currency into cryptocurrency, while Hexa Whale presumably performed similar functions while presenting

09-16Industry

CLARITY Act Made 126 Concessions and Still Couldn't Get 60 Votes

Key TakeawaysCLARITY Act cloture failed Sept. 15 after the opposition reached 41 votes.Mitch McConnell returned to Washington and voted to advance H.R. 3633.CLARITY Act sponsors offered 126 changes, but Democrats still balked.  The CLARITY Act Finally Reached the Senate Floor  After more than a year of negotiations, hundreds of pages of legislative text, and a weekend scramble to keep the deal alive, the CLARITY Act finally got its Senate moment Tuesday afternoon. It didnt last long.  At approximately 2:15 p.m. ET, senators voted on cloture for the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633. This wasnt the final passage. It was essentially permission to open the door and begin debating the bill, and Senate rules required 60 votes to do it.  Once the unofficial floor tally reached 41 nays, however, the arithmetic was brutal. Even if every remaining senator voted yes, the ceiling was 59. Game over.  Discover more  Merchant Services & Payment Systems  Digital Currencies  News  McConnell Returned and Voted to Advance It  One of the more striking votes came from Mitch McConnell. The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican returned to the Senate this week after roughly three months away following a June fall, hospitalization and recovery.  McConnell voted to advance the Crypto CLARITY Act, giving Republicans another vote toward the 60 needed

09-16Industry

Higher Rates, Divergent Fates: Banking And Insurance's New Winners

Monetary tightening does not lift all boats equally.  getty  For over a decade, financial institutions have in the U.S. have operated in a world of very low interest rates. When central banks started to reverse course to combat stubborn inflation, they shattered the structural paradigms that defined modern banking and insurance. While a rising rate environment is often superficially categorized as a net positive for financial sectors, a deeper look reveals a highly fragmented landscape. However, monetary tightening does not lift all boats equally. Instead, it creates stark, existential fault lines between diversified giants and concentrated players, and between long-duration asset managers and short-tail underwriters. Understanding these mechanics is essential for financial institution risk managers, financial regulators, and investors in bank and insurance securities.  The Battle for Capital: GSIBs vs. Regional Banks  To understand the impact of monetary policy on banking, one must look directly at the balance sheet‘s liability side. The core engine of bank profitability is the net interest margin (NIM)—the spread between what a bank earns on loans and what it pays to depositors. In a rising rate environment, this spread hinges entirely on a single metric: the deposit beta. This represents the percentage of a central bank’s rate hike that

09-16Industry

Crypto Clarity Act flames out in failed U.S. Senate vote

Negotiators for the two political parties had hashed out more than 600 pages of legislative compromise, but a few final sections of the bill — such as the ethics provisions meant to curtail senior government officials from maintaining crypto business ties — turned out to feature insurmountable rifts. And the closer the process dragged toward the elections, the more likely it was that political pressures would get in the way of a bipartisan deal.  The Senate vote on the Clarity Act failed to win the 60 votes it needed. (U.S. Senate)  Leading Republican negotiator Senator Cynthia Lummis made the final pitch before the vote, but she failed to convince enough colleagues to join her.  “Do not let this day be the day we handed our future to someone else because we were too afraid to finish what we started,” she said on the Senate floor. “Lets vote yes. Lets not only join the 21st Century economy. Lets not only join the digital age. Lets lead it. Lets define it.”  So what now?  The industry will turn to the U.S. market regulators who are already at work trying to impose rules on the sector.  The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have started

09-16Industry

X launches US Cashtag Program with Coinbase and Kraken

X has launched its U.S. Cashtag Partner Program with five brokerage platforms, giving users a direct route from stock, ETF, and cryptocurrency discussions to eligible trading services.  SummaryFive partners include Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, Interactive Brokers, and Moomoo.Supported cashtags now display a “Trade” option that redirects users to a participating platform.U.S. users must complete transactions through the selected brokerage rather than directly on X.X has added the program after introducing interactive price charts and financial data through smart cashtags.  X Cashtag Program connects tickers with trading platforms  X said in an official announcement that the Cashtag Partner Program has gone live in the United States with Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, Interactive Brokers, and Moomoo as its first participants.  When users tap a supported cashtag, they can view information tied to the stock, ETF, or cryptocurrency represented by the ticker. A new “Trade” option then lets them choose an available brokerage partner and continue the transaction on that companys platform.  X does not appear to be executing the trades itself under the arrangement described in the announcement. Instead, the social platform connects users with participating financial companies, where account requirements, identity checks, asset availability, and other trading conditions apply.  You might also like:  Vitalik Buterin urges Elon Musk to remake

09-16Industry
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