Bitcoin gained 0.88% over 24 hours to $76,621 as traders interpreted the Federal Reserve’s latest projections as a sign that only one more rate hike may be ahead. Zcash posted a much larger move, climbing 23% to a record after Paradigm disclosed that it holds the token.

Bitcoin reached $76,621 on Thursday, rising 0.60% since midnight UTC and 0.88% over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency’s advance came as investors focused on the Fed’s projected policy path rather than its first interest-rate increase in more than three years. Ether rose 1.1% to $2,444.36, while Solana gained 2% to $100.57.

The Federal Open Market Committee raised rates by 25 basis points, taking the target range to 3.75%-4%. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation remained “too high … for too long” and said recent readings had not indicated a meaningful improvement in underlying inflation trends.

The Fed’s “dot plot” provided some reassurance to investors. Its median projection puts the policy rate at 4.1% at the end of both 2026 and 2027. That forecast implies one additional 25-basis-point hike rather than a lengthy period of continued tightening.

The broader risk market also strengthened. The Dollar Index slipped 0.17%, while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 1.04% and S&P 500 futures rose 0.81%. Gold added 1.02% and silver climbed 1.52%. The two-year Treasury yield declined 2 basis points to 4.71% after reaching its highest level since 2024 in the previous session.

Crypto assets moved alongside the wider risk rally rather than leading it, reversing the trend seen earlier in the week when digital assets had traded independently of equities. The recovery was broad, with speculative assets showing particularly strong gains. Ninety-four of the CoinDesk 100 constituents rose over 24 hours, while the small-cap CoinDesk 80 gained 4.7%, compared with a 1.2% increase in the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5.

Despite the price recovery, institutional fund flows remain negative. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $295.98 million in net outflows Wednesday after $450.33 million of withdrawals the previous day, according to SoSoValue. Outflows since Sept. 8 have surpassed $1 billion over seven consecutive sessions, reducing total net assets to $95.19 billion.

Bitcoin is still trading 6.9% below its Sept. 4 monthly high of $82,284.

Derivatives Positioning

Open interest across crypto futures rose to $64.4 billion from $59.7 billion on Monday, while 24-hour trading volume reached $112.6 billion. Liquidations totaled $214.3 million during the same period, according to Coinalyze. The increase in open interest suggests traders have been adding exposure as prices rise rather than merely closing short positions.

Bitcoin’s open interest increased 1.41% to $26.6 billion, while ether’s rose 1.39% to $16.7 billion. Ether accounted for $60.7 million in liquidations, while Bitcoin saw $42.4 million.

Zcash recorded the strongest increase in derivatives activity. ZEC open interest jumped 37.84% over 24 hours to $2.2 billion, accompanied by $28.9 million in liquidations. Its funding rate remained at -0.0253%, meaning traders holding short positions were paying those on the long side even as ZEC reached new highs. Repeated bearish positioning throughout the month has contributed to a series of short squeezes.

Bitcoin’s funding conditions remain positive. The aggregated funding rate rose to 0.0070%, with the predicted rate at 0.0082%. Rates differed considerably between exchanges, ranging from 0.0153% on Kraken to -0.0003% on Huobi.

The Coinalyze long/short ratio stood at 1.13, showing a tilt toward bullish positions. The ratio has remained positive for eight consecutive days after spending three weeks below 1.

Token Market

Zcash surged 23% over 24 hours to about $1,369, setting a new record. The rally came after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang said on X that the investment firm owns ZEC and described it as “a private complement to Bitcoin.” He also backed continued funding for Zcash developers.

The price increase followed a governance vote in which Zcash holders supported reducing block intervals from 75 seconds to 25 seconds while retaining the cryptocurrency’s Bitcoin-style halving schedule. Zcash now has a market capitalization of $23.2 billion.

Monero failed to participate in the privacy-token rally, falling 0.97% to $494.14 and declining 1.6% over 24 hours. Zcash’s market capitalization is now twice the size of Monero’s.

NEAR Protocol recorded a 16% 24-hour gain to $2.82, including a 7.6% rise since midnight UTC, making it the strongest performer among the mid-cap tokens. Venice Token added 14% to $25.45 over 24 hours, recovering above its price before Tuesday’s Clarity Act vote.

Pump.fun led the CoinDesk 80 with a 7.9% increase to $0.003926. Lighter (LIT) rose 7% to $4.92, while Fartcoin gained 6.4%. The gains suggest speculative interest is returning after traders had concentrated on Bitcoin following the August short squeeze.

CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator also increased to 39/100, up from around 32/100 for most of the week.