Fed Rate Hike Sparks Crypto Rally as Zcash Surges Twenty-Three Percent and Circle Launches Arc…

Welcome to Chain Reaction, by Capital Copilot, your daily dose of the latest in cryptocurrency news, market insights, and blockchain trends. Let's get started! Bitcoin holds at seventy-six thousand three hundred eighteen dollars while Ethereum trades at two thousand four hundred thirty-three dollars following the Federal Reserve's rate hike and a dramatic market rally led by privacy coins. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by twenty-five basis points on September sixteenth, bringing the target range to three point seven five to four percent. This marks the first rate increase since July twenty twenty-three. Despite rate hikes typically pressuring risk assets, cryptocurrency markets rallied, with Bitcoin recovering from seventy-five thousand sixty-five dollars to reclaim the seventy-six thousand dollar level. Zcash emerged as the day's standout performer, surging twenty-three percent to approximately one thousand three hundred forty-five dollars following Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang's disclosure that the investment firm holds Z E C. The surge triggered massive liquidations, with Zcash accounting for fifty-six million dollars of the three hundred forty-five million dollars in total crypto market liquidations. Short sellers bore the brunt with two hundred eight million dollars in liquidated positions. Circle launched Arc, a Layer one blockchain designed for payments and financial markets. The mainnet went live with founding validators including BlackRock, D T C C, Visa, Mastercard, and Standard Chartered. Arc uses U S D C for gas fees and offers sub-second transaction finality. Circle completed a genesis mint of ten billion A R C tokens. Robinhood announced support for Arc, allowing users to deposit and withdraw U S D C directly on the network. Hyperliquid's decentralized perpetual futures will enter the U.S. market through a partnership with Payward, Kraken's parent company. The contracts will operate under C F T C-regulated entities Bitnomial Exchange and Bitnomial Clearinghouse. If approved, this would make Payward the first registered U.S. exchange to deploy perpetual futures on a public blockchain. Hyperliquid's H Y P E token rose one point seven percent to seventy-eight dollars twenty-three cents. The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act in a thirty-eight to five vote, establishing a federal tax framework for crypto. Key provisions include eliminating capital gains tax on transactions under ten dollars and clarifying tax treatment for stablecoins, mining, and staking. The House Financial Services Committee advanced the American Reserve Modernization Act in a twenty-eight to twenty-one vote, codifying President Trump's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into law with a twenty-year lockup period. X R P fell eight point seven percent as the broader market absorbed the Senate's rejection of the CLARITY Act. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated the failure does not alter the company's trajectory. U.S. spot X R P exchange-traded funds have attracted approximately one point seven one billion dollars in cumulative net inflows through September fourteenth. In cybersecurity news, hackers claiming responsibility for a Revolut data breach demanded three million dollars in Monero with a twenty-four hour deadline. The breach affected approximately six hundred eighty customer accounts. Revolut stated it has not negotiated with or paid any ransom. That's a wrap for today's edition of Chain Reaction by Capital Copilot. We hope you're feeling more informed and ready to navigate the cryptoverse. Until next time, keep your digital wallets ready!