Bitcoin falls below $77,000 on CPI and rate-hike bets

Updated September 26, 2026. · Written by Svetoslav Grigorov

Seventh correction, September 21, 2026: Bitcoin has clearly broken above the $85,000 mark during the September 21 session, its highest level since late January 2026 (about eight months). The rest of the article, with the previous correction (the September 18 close) and all the others, remains below as historical context.

VERIFIED Bitcoin touched an intraday high of $86,349.90 on September 21, 2026, trading around $85,863.40 (up roughly 5.8% on the day) — its highest level since late January 2026, according to CNBC. It remains well below its all-time high of over $126,000 set in October 2025.

HYPOTHESIS Several outlets attribute the rally to accelerating inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs, regulatory signals read as favorable despite the CLARITY Act's Senate rejection, and short covering; Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan told CNBC he considers the "crypto winter" over. This is the reading circulating that day, not a fact independently verified by this site, according to the same source.

What was behind the September 18 rally (previous correction)

VERIFIED Bitcoin rose 5.88% on September 18, 2026 to $80,846, after opening the session at $76,355 and breaking through resistance at $78,000, according to Yahoo Finance. Ether rose 6.37% to $2,619.81 in the same session, according to the same source.

HYPOTHESIS Several outlets attribute the rebound to investors looking past the CLARITY Act's failure and the Federal Reserve's rate hike to return to risk-on mode; breaking through the $78,000 resistance triggered short liquidations, accelerating the move toward $80,000, with US spot ETF inflows as additional support. This is the reading circulating that day, not a fact independently verified by this site, according to the same source.

What was behind the September 15-16 drop (previous correction)

VERIFIED Bitcoin fell to $76,862 (-1.7% since midnight UTC) on September 15, 2026, giving back Monday's rally as Polymarket odds on the CLARITY Act becoming law this year were cut in half, according to CoinDesk. Hours later, on September 15, 2026, the US Senate rejected a motion to end debate on the CLARITY Act, the leading crypto market-structure bill, by a vote of 49 to 50 (it needed 60), leaving the effort stranded for the rest of 2026, according to CNBC. The next day, September 16, 2026, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points, to a target range of 3.75%-4.00%, in a unanimous 12-0 vote — the first hike since July 2023, according to Fox Business.

HYPOTHESIS Several outlets attribute the extended drop to the combination of the CLARITY Act's failure with the expectation, later confirmed, that the Federal Reserve would raise rates for the first time since 2023 — a move that weighs on risk assets that pay no interest. Bitcoin came close to $76,000 after the Senate vote's result became known. This is the reading circulating while the market kept moving, not a fact independently verified by this site, according to CoinDesk.

CALCULATED Between the August 25 price ($78,872.75 according to Coinbase, the figure this article was originally published with) and the September 21 price ($85,863.40), Bitcoin shows a cumulative change of +8.86% — (85,863.40 − 78,872.75) / 78,872.75 × 100. This is Claromercado's own calculation from two figures already verified and dated in this article, not a figure published as such by any source.

Recent move history

The reasons cited in this history are market narratives attributed to the sources indicated in each case, not facts independently verified by this site.

• September 11 — opened at $76,535.95, down 2.2% from the prior day's open and 6% below the week before, its lowest level in about two weeks; attributed to expectations (69.4% odds per CME Group's FedWatch) of a Fed rate hike the following week, ahead of the August inflation data. Yahoo Finance.
• September 8 — fell 1.55% over 24 hours to $78,564.71, losing the $79,000 level; attributed to stronger-than-expected US jobs data (rising Treasury yields), whale profit-taking (~$9.07 billion in unrealized gains) and leveraged long liquidations; resistance near $80,500. Coinpedia.
• September 4-5 — trading above $81,000; US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $730.87 million on September 3 (third-largest single-day haul of the year, the biggest in nine months, led by BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust); attributed in part to comments from a Fed governor that opened the door to holding rates steady that month. Yahoo Finance, The Block.
• September 1 — trading at $77,952.62 (−0.8% over 24h, −1.5% over 7 days); market cap around $1.57 trillion, 24h volume ~$29.6 billion. CoinGecko.
• Week through August 26 — Bitcoin added 23% in seven days, its strongest week in more than three years, reaching close to $80,000; ETFs took in close to $3.2 billion that week (best figure since October); the crypto fear & greed index jumped from 36 ("fear") to 81 ("extreme greed"). CoinDesk, Tech Times.
• August 25 — attributed to a U.S. Treasury bond buyback announcement and a White House meeting voicing support for the crypto sector; “Total2” (the crypto market cap excluding Bitcoin) climbed more than 24% over three days and moved back above the $1 trillion mark. Bitcoin.com News.

Synthesis of the period

Between August 25 and September 21, 2026, Bitcoin went from a strong week driven by ETF inflows to a pullback to near $76,000 in mid-September (coinciding with the CLARITY Act's failure in the Senate and the Fed's rate hike), and from there to a new rally to above $85,000. The price moved from $78,872.75 to $85,863.40 over that period — the +8.86% cumulative change calculated above.

HYPOTHESIS The outlets cited in the history repeatedly attribute the period's moves to inflows and outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs and to expectations about the Fed's rate policy. The CLARITY Act's failure on September 15 and the rate hike the next day are pointed to as the most direct catalyst for the drop toward $76,000; the subsequent acceleration of ETF inflows and short covering, as the catalyst for the rebound to $85,000. These are readings attributed to the sources already cited for each session, not a causal relationship independently verified by this site.

What this does NOT mean

HYPOTHESIS A 23% weekly gain followed by a 1.5% weekly drop confirms neither a sustained bull run nor the end of the rally: several analysts warn that September, not October, could bring the next real volatility test for Bitcoin and altcoins, with several macro and regulatory events clustered within days. A multi-day move in either direction is not the same thing as a multi-month trend.

Sources for the seventh correction, September 21, 2026: CNBC: Bitcoin hits highest level since January at $85,000, as the market debates whether the 'crypto winter' is over. Sources for the sixth correction, September 18, 2026: Yahoo Finance: Bitcoin surges 5% to top $80,000 as investors look past Clarity Act's failure. Sources for the fifth correction, September 15-16, 2026: CoinDesk: Bitcoin gives back Monday's gain as Clarity Act odds fade on Polymarket, CNBC: Senate cloture vote on Clarity Act fails, Fox Business: Fed hikes interest rates for first time since 2023, CoinDesk: XRP sinks 10% as the Clarity Act fails and bitcoin slides toward $76,000. Sources for the condensed history (September 11 → August 25, 2026): Yahoo Finance: Bitcoin and ethereum prices today, September 11, 2026, Coinpedia: Bitcoin Price Today, September 8th, Yahoo Finance: Bitcoin and ethereum prices today, September 4, 2026, The Block: US bitcoin ETFs report the largest inflow day since January, CoinGecko: Bitcoin Price, CoinDesk: Bitcoin takes a breather after adding 23% in 7 days, Tech Times: Bitcoin ETFs Draw $3.2B, Coinbase: Bitcoin (BTC) Price, Bitcoin.com News: Crypto Market Surge.

Educational notice: this article is analysis based on public data, may be wrong, and is not financial advice. It is not a buy or sell recommendation. The decision and the risk are always the reader's own.