What Happened In Crypto Market Today: Top Crypto News And What's Next

Three central banks moved this week, one major bill stalled, and traders shrugged all of it off. That's what happened in crypto market today. Bitcoin climbed past $78,000, XRP pushed above $1.30, and the total value of every coin tracked by CoinGecko added roughly $70 billion in a single day. 

If you were expecting red charts after a Fed hike and a BoJ hike in the same 48 hours, today flipped the script.

Key Takeaways

• Global crypto value hit $2.77 trillion today, up 2.6% in 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data, even as the Fed and Bank of Japan both raised interest rates this week.

• Bitcoin price today sits at $78,141.90 (up 2.4%), Ethereum at $2,507.18 (up 2.9%), and XRP at $1.33 (up 3.0%), with Bitcoin ETFs pulling in $159.45 million in fresh money on September 17.

• Big regulatory news landed too: the SEC gave tokenized stock platforms five years of conditional relief, and Coinbase partnered with Stablecore to reach over 3,000 US banks and credit unions.

Why Is Crypto Market Up Today Despite Rate Hikes?

Here's the part that surprises most people. Usually, when a central bank raises rates, risk assets like crypto fall. This week gave the crypto space three reasons to drop, back to back. 

The Fed raised its rate by 25 basis points on September 16, moving the range to 3.75% to 4.00%. The Bank of Japan then raised its own rate by 25 basis points on September 18, taking it to 1.25%, the highest level in around 31 years. On top of that, the Clarity Act, a bill many traders were watching for regulatory certainty, failed to pass.

None of that stopped the rally. Crypto value hit $2.77 trillion today, up 2.6% in 24 hours. Trading volume over the last 24 hours reached $92.9 billion, a sign that buyers, not just short covering, drove the move. 

Bitcoin and Altcoin Price Today: Where BTC Stands Right Now

Bitcoin price today is $78,025.00, a 2.4% jump that pushed its total value to $1.567 trillion, per CoinGecko. That single coin now makes up well over half of the entire crypto space by value. 

Source: Coingecko Data 

Ethereum price today is $2,507.18 after a 2.9% gain, bringing its market value to $306.038 billion. XRP news today centers on a 3.0% intraday surge, putting XRP price today at $1.33 with an $83.839 billion market value. Both coins moved in step with Bitcoin, suggesting the buying was broad rather than limited to one token.

Top Crypto Gainers And Losers Today

Small-cap tokens saw the sharpest moves, both up and down. Gravity, listed as G, led every gainer by a wide margin.

Gravity's near-$260 million trading volume on a token priced under a cent shows real speculative demand, not just a thin-volume spike. On the losing side, 蝴蝶人生 dropped the hardest at 17.6%, even with a relatively small $4.36 million in volume, a pattern typical of low-liquidity tokens.

Crypto ETF News: Bitcoin And Zcash Lead, Ethereum And XRP Lag

Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $159.45 million in daily net inflow on September 17, pushing cumulative inflow to $54.73 billion. Zcash ETFs added $46.56 million that same day, with $233.28 million in cumulative inflow since launch. Both funds helped keep buying pressure alive through the rate-hike news.

Source: SoSovalue Data 

Ethereum told a different story. SoSoValue data shows ETH funds posted a daily net outflow of $39.24 million on September 17. Cumulative inflow still stands at $13.11 billion, with $680.45 million traded that day and $15.42 billion in total net assets, or 5.15% of Ethereum's entire market value. XRP ETFs saw a smaller outflow of $5.15 million, the fund's second outflow this September, per SoSoValue. Cumulative inflow sits at $1.71 billion, total value traded at $19.69 million, and total net assets at $1.39 billion, or 1.71% of XRP's market value. 

What Happened In Crypto Market Today: Top News 

Bank Of Japan Raises Rates To Highest Level In 31 Years

On September 18, the Bank of Japan lifted its policy rate by 25 basis points, from 1.0% to 1.25%, the highest it has been in roughly 31 years. The vote passed 7 to 2 among board members. 

The bank said Japan's economy is recovering moderately, though it flagged weak spots tied to tensions in the Middle East. Underlying inflation is edging closer to the 2% target, and the bank warned there's a real risk that price growth could run past that mark.

US Tokenized Stocks Get Five Years Of Regulatory Relief

According to Wu Blockchain, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins announced that eligible tokenized securities platforms and certain liquidity providers now have five years of conditional regulatory relief. The exemption comes with real limits though. 

Synthetic stocks are excluded entirely. Public companies can refuse to have their shares tokenized. And token holders must keep the same rights as traditional shareholders, including dividends and voting power.

Coinbase And Stablecore Partner With 3,000+ US Banks

Coinbase announced a partnership with Stablecore to bring digital asset custody, trading, and stablecoin payments to community and regional banks and credit unions across the US. Stablecore's white-label infrastructure already connects to core banking, digital banking, and compliance systems used by more than 3,000 US institutions. Coinbase supplies the regulated digital asset backend behind it.

Nostra Oracle Exploit Drains $3.5 Million On Starknet

Nostra disclosed on September 17 that a manipulated NSTR oracle price let one account borrow around $3.5 million in assets against NSTR collateral. The protocol paused its Starknet money market immediately after spotting the issue. Nostra described this directly as an oracle-price manipulation event, not a smart contract exploit in the traditional sense, meaning the code itself worked as written but the price feed it relied on got manipulated.

Binance EU License Collapse Tied To ECB Pressure, WSJ Reports

The Wall Street Journal reported that Binance's bid for a MiCA license through Greece collapsed not from a standard regulatory rejection, but from a direct, personal request by ECB President Christine Lagarde. Binance has disputed how its situation was characterized in the report. Neither the ECB nor Greek authorities have publicly confirmed the account, but the report has renewed scrutiny of how political pressure interacts with Europe's crypto licensing framework.

What Next For Crypto Market: Events To Watch

With the Fed decision, the BoJ decision, and the Clarity Act failure all behind us, a few concrete events are lined up next:

• PirateChain (ARRR): Users must update their Treasure Chest wallet to v6.0.0 before September 19 at roughly 19:00 UTC. This hardfork prepares the network for the Ironwood upgrade, and skipping it will interrupt syncing.

• Avalanche: AvalancheGo v1.15.0, called the Helicon Mainnet release, is live now. Nodes need to upgrade before 11 AM ET (3 PM UTC) on September 22. Any node not running a Helicon-capable version by then will stop following the network.

• Injective (INJ): A new mainnet upgrade proposal is expected this week, with the focus reportedly on tokenization and regulated real-world assets. The INJ mainnet upgrade itself is scheduled for September 20.

Conclusion

What happened in crypto market today shows sentiment can beat policy, at least for one session. Two rate hikes and a failed bill didn't stop Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP from posting solid gains, backed by real ETF inflows and strong trading volume across the board.

YMYL Disclaimer: This content covers financial and market topics that fall under Your Money Your Life (YMYL) guidelines. It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. Cryptocurrency prices are volatile and can move sharply in either direction. Data referenced here comes from CoinGecko, SoSoValue, Wu Blockchain, Coinbase, The Wall Street Journal, and official protocol disclosures as cited, and reflects figures at the time of writing, not a live feed. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.