Bitcoin News - September 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM

Top of Mind

Bitcoin enters FOMC week caught between a hawkish rates repricing and an intact debasement bid. August core CPI rose 0.3% m/m versus 0.2% expected, lifting Sept. 16 hike odds to ~85% and 30-year yields to 5.35%; BTC spiked to $79.8k then faded near $77k. Holding $76,270 support despite the repricing suggests the debasement bid is not exhausted. The near-term battle is Fed-hike liquidity versus medium-term Treasury backstop.

Market Structure

• BTC's $76,040–$79,837 round trip kept the $76,270 support intact, but a weekly close below $78,300 would replicate May's breakdown. CryptoQuant says $81,700 (365d MA) is the bull-confirmation line; supports at $70k, then $62–65k.
• Spot ETFs logged $449M of net outflows in three sessions through Thursday, with Thursday's $282.6M the largest since July; ARKB led at $164M, GBTC $36M, FBTC $33.6M.
• Supply overhang is real: Binance BTC reserves sit near two-year highs (~692k), STH-whale unrealized profit hit a record $9.07B on Sept. 4, and Kalshi sees end-2026 BTC near $75k.

Policy and Institutions

• Senate Republicans released a 630-page revised Clarity Act ahead of the Sept. 15 procedural vote; it adds CFTC registration for non-decentralized DeFi trading protocols but retains DOJ-led ethics enforcement and still lacks Democratic support.
• Treasury Secretary Bessent and Coinbase CEO Armstrong are publicly pushing passage; Armstrong says "bottom is in" and expects a yes vote, while Myriad prices 2026 enactment at only ~17%.
• FT reports a U.S. regulator granted a banking licence to the Trump family crypto venture (single-sourced, paywalled); if confirmed, it widens crypto bank access and sharpens the ethics fight.
• Corporate treasury strain: Metaplanet cut its Series 10 option pool 41%; Strategy skipped its weekly BTC buy to repurchase $176M STRC and doubled its repurchase program to $2B.

Network and Industry

• Blockstream refuses to pay a ransom for ~598 BTC ($46M) still held by the Liquid Network exploiter; 3,400 BTC was returned, but peg-outs remain disabled.
• Revolut exposed KYC, passports and full Bitcoin transaction histories after honoring a fraudulent request from a legitimate government email domain; ZachXBT says HNWIs were targeted.
• AI-assisted research cut the ECDSA quantum-attack benchmark for Bitcoin/Ethereum by 86% to a 1.496B score; no Q-Day, but researchers warn migration timelines just shortened.
• Nasdaq agreed to invest $100M in Kraken parent Payward at a $21B valuation, targeting tokenized equities in Q2 2027.

Macro Linkages

• QCP says 5% risk-free yields plus no nominal-growth impulse is "the worst mix for Bitcoin," directly undercutting the August Treasury-liquidity-put narrative.
• Brent above $105/WTI above $100 on US-Iran escalation feeds gasoline inflation and keeps the Fed hiking; this is the immediate bearish macro input.
• If long yields stay elevated, the failed Treasury buyback raises odds of a "bazooka-style" program — CoinShares's medium-term bullish catalyst for BTC and gold.

Standouts

• Hargreaves Lansdown began offering crypto ETNs nearly a year after the UK ban lifted; opens mainstream UK retail distribution.
• Secret Service froze $52.8M USDT tied to Xinbi Guarantee; OFAC designated it a transnational criminal organization.
• Albuquerque banned crypto ATMs, giving operators 45 days to remove kiosks; extends state-level crackdown on scam conduits.
• Iran is turning to crypto to shore up its sanctioned economy (FT, single-sourced); signals sovereign adoption under duress.