NEW YORK – A powerful rally across Wall Street spilled into crypto on Sept 21, sending Bitcoin above US$87,000 (S$111,017) and smaller tokens sharply higher as investors rushed back into riskier assets.
The original cryptocurrency surged as much as 7.7 per cent to US$87,354 in New York, extending a rebound of more than US$10,000 from last week’s lows as crypto markets pushed past the failure of landmark US legislation and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increase.
The original cryptocurrency is back at late January levels but remains roughly a third below its record in October 2025.
The rally comes alongside advances in stocks and bonds, as falling oil prices and optimism ahead of a summit between US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping are buoying markets more broadly. Many smaller digital assets gained more, with the Dogecoin jumping as much as 14 per cent and XRP increased around 8 per cent.
Liquidations of long and short positions across digital assets have climbed to US$1 billion over the last 24 hours, the highest since late August, when Bitcoin saw a record wave of bearish bets wiped out largely due to a sharp rally in the token, according to data from compiled Coinglass.
About US$878 million in short positions was liquidated in that period.
“Financial markets have rediscovered a risk-on frame of mind after being consumed with worry about government bond yields, debt piles and the prospect of a return to tighter policy at the world’s most powerful central bank,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investing and trading platform IG.
Bitcoin’s gains build upon a recovery that began late last week, when crypto absorbed the failure of the landmark Clarity Act to establish a clearer understanding of industry regulation as well the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate increase in more than three years.
A green light on Sept 17 from the Securities and Exchange Commission for digital versions of securities to start trading in the US helped to brighten the mood.
“The crypto market capitalisation has risen to US$2.8T, its highest level since the end of January 2026,” said FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich. “Although Sept 19’s rally was followed by increased selling pressure, buyers have once again been dominating the cryptocurrency market since Sept 20.”
Shares of crypto-related companies also rallied. Coinbase Global rose 3.5 per cent, Circle Internet Group climbed 3 per cent and Strategy increased 9.5 per cent.
Bitcoin open interest on the options trading platform Deribit was heavily dominated by calls, signaling bullish sentiment. The platform showed more than 272,000 contracts for the right to buy the token compared with over 154,000 for puts, or the right to sell.
“Bitcoin options market is positioned to capture the upside,” said Pratik Kala, a portfolio manager at digital-asset hedge fund Apollo Crypto. “People are repositioning from downside protection to wanting to capture the upside.”
But traders are not convinced the momentum can last given the difficult macroeconomic headwinds, with crude oil still above US$100 a barrel and US Treasury yields elevated.
Bitcoin is still off its 2026 high of over US$97,000 in mid-January, and even further from its October 2025 record. Retail enthusiasm has also proven hard to rekindle as artificial intelligence stocks and other AI-linked trades compete for the same pool of speculative capital.
“For this week, there aren’t any big catalysts to watch out for per se, but any hawkish or dovish remarks by Fed officials could impact the market,” said Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of BTSE. BLOOMBERG
