# Bitcoin Holds Above $76,000 After the Fed Hike, With Zcash Up 23 Percent

Digital assets rose on a decision that removed uncertainty rather than added liquidity, while gold traded near $4,340 an ounce and silver near $64.

- Published: 2026-09-17T05:11:27.605Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-17/bitcoin-holds-above-76-000-after-the-fed-hike-with-zcash-up
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: crypto
- Sources: [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/17/zcash-jumps-23-as-bitcoin-and-major-tokens-rise-despite-fed-s-first-hike-since-2023), [The Block](https://www.theblock.co/news/markets/2026-09-16-bitcoin-ether-swing-unanimous-quarter-point-fed-rate-hike-warsh-aim-inflation-415307)

Bitcoin traded above $76,000 on Thursday, holding its level after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, and Zcash gained 23 percent, [CoinDesk reported](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/17/zcash-jumps-23-as-bitcoin-and-major-tokens-rise-despite-fed-s-first-hike-since-2023). Matt Huang, of the crypto investment firm Paradigm, used the move to argue that Zcash functions as a privacy complement to bitcoin rather than a competitor to it.

The immediate reaction to the decision was two-sided. [The Block reported that bitcoin and ether swung](https://www.theblock.co/news/markets/2026-09-16-bitcoin-ether-swing-unanimous-quarter-point-fed-rate-hike-warsh-aim-inflation-415307) in both directions during Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference before settling higher. Traders had positioned for the quarter-point increase for days, so the decision removed an uncertainty rather than delivering a surprise.

The comparison with monetary metals is the useful one. Gold traded near $4,340 an ounce on Wednesday and silver near $64, [according to commodity price data](https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/gold), with both metals firm ahead of the decision. Gold's strength reflects a straightforward judgement that a quarter point does not restore positive real returns on cash when inflation is accelerating.

Bitcoin's behaviour is harder to fit into the digital-gold description. It rose on the same day equity indices fell, but its moves through the press conference tracked short-term liquidity expectations rather than any monetary debasement thesis. The privacy trade in Zcash, meanwhile, is a narrower bet on transaction surveillance rather than on the value of money.

## What this means

The distinction matters for anyone holding digital assets as an inflation hedge. Bitcoin's intraday response to a central bank press conference shows it is still traded as a liquidity-sensitive asset, so it tends to fall when financial conditions tighten sharply, which is exactly the moment a debasement hedge is supposed to work. Gold near $4,340 and silver near $64 reflect a different buyer, one responding to real rates rather than to risk appetite. The two outcomes to separate are bitcoin decoupling upward as metals rise, which would support the store-of-value case, or bitcoin falling alongside equities in the next tightening scare, which would not.

## What to watch

- How bitcoin trades on the next sharp equity decline, the cleanest test of whether it moves with risk assets or with monetary metals.
- Flows into spot bitcoin exchange-traded products, which show whether institutional buyers treat higher rates as a reason to reduce exposure.
- Whether gold holds above recent levels if the Fed delivers a second increase in October, which would indicate buyers expect real rates to stay negative.