# Bitcoin holds above $77,000 after the Bank of Japan hike while ether and XRP funds lose money

Gold is trading near $4,310 an ounce after this week's central bank decisions, and bitcoin remains roughly 39 percent below the level it reached in October 2025.

- Published: 2026-09-18T05:18:24.383Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-09-18/bitcoin-holds-above-77-000-after-the-bank-of-japan-hike-whil
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: crypto
- Sources: [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/17/boj-rate-hike), [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/18/ether-and-xrp-etfs-post-outflows-as-bitcoin-moves-above-usd77-000), [Globes](https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001556874#utm_source=RSS)

Bitcoin moved above $77,000 after the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 1.25 percent and the yen weakened, [CoinDesk reported](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/17/boj-rate-hike). Asian equity indices also opened higher, [according to Globes](https://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1001556874#utm_source=RSS), and bitcoin's price moved in the same direction rather than diverging from them.

Fund flows moved in the opposite direction from prices. Exchange-traded funds holding ether lost money for a third consecutive session even as the token itself rose, and funds holding XRP also recorded outflows, while zcash continued to rise, [CoinDesk said](https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/09/18/ether-and-xrp-etfs-post-outflows-as-bitcoin-moves-above-usd77-000). Investors are reducing exposure through the regulated funds at the same time spot buyers are pushing prices up.

Comparing the two assets often described as hard money makes the divergence clear. Gold [traded at about $4,310.80 an ounce, up 1.12 percent](https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/gold) in the latest session, after the Federal Reserve raised rates on Wednesday and the Bank of Japan followed on Friday. Bitcoin at $77,000 is roughly 39 percent below the level near $126,000 it reached [in early October 2025](https://www.statista.com/statistics/326707/bitcoin-price-index/), and it has [repeatedly failed to break above the low $80,000s](https://247wallst.com/investing/cryptocurrency/2026/09/07/bitcoin-keeps-getting-rejected-at-82000-can-it-break-through-in-september-2026/) throughout September.

This divergence has persisted through an oil shock, the Gulf war and two central bank rate increases. Gold has absorbed the demand for protection against currency debasement, while bitcoin has behaved like a liquidity-sensitive asset whose price depends on funding conditions. Tighter policy in both Washington and Tokyo is removing cheap funding, and that is exactly the environment in which describing bitcoin as digital gold has not matched its actual price behaviour.

## What this means

Investors buying bitcoin as protection against currency debasement are instead holding an asset that tracks global liquidity. With the Federal Reserve at 3.75 to 4.00 percent and the Bank of Japan ending the cheapest funding source in the world, leveraged crypto positions face higher borrowing costs, which limits how far rallies can extend. Gold is absorbing the reserve-diversification demand instead, so the two assets are responding to different buyers and will likely keep moving apart under stress.

## What to watch

- Whether bitcoin exchange-traded funds join ether and XRP funds in sustained outflows, which would show institutional allocators, not retail traders, setting the direction.
- The gold-to-bitcoin performance gap through the next Federal Reserve meeting, the cleanest read on whether liquidity or debasement hedging dominates.
- Yen funding costs after the Bank of Japan hike, since carry trades financed in yen have been a source of speculative capital for crypto markets.