Coinbase, Circle and Robinhood led a broad selloff in publicly listed cryptocurrency-linked stocks on Wednesday after the United States Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, the first hike delivered under new Chair Kevin Warsh. Bitcoin, in contrast, held its ground near the mid-$76,000 area, underscoring a widening gap between the underlying asset and the operating companies that trade around it.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed’s policy-setting body, voted 12-0 to lift the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 3.75% to 4.00%, according to the statement released at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on September 16. It was the first increase in the benchmark rate since July 2023.
Fed cites elevated inflation, adjusts key operating rates
The Committee said inflation “remains elevated” and that the move would support “a timelier return to the Committee’s 2 percent goal.” The accompanying implementation note set the interest rate on reserve balances at 3.90% and the primary credit rate at 4.00%, both effective September 17. Overnight reverse repurchase agreement operations were set at 3.75%, and standing overnight repo at 4.00%.
Warsh addressed reporters at 2:30 p.m. EDT. According to the official press conference transcript, he said, “The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long.”
Discussing the summer readings, the chair added that the data did not indicate underlying trends had “meaningfully improved,” and estimated that the 12-month change in total Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) prices, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, was likely around 3.6% in August based on the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) prints.
On the rationale for the move, he told reporters, “I would be hard-pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive. This view was widely shared by the Committee. So we removed a dose of accommodation.”
The Fed also released its updated Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) at 2:00 p.m. EDT. The minutes of the September 15-16 meeting are scheduled for release on October 7.
The tape: exchanges and stablecoin issuer take the hit
The direction of the move was largely priced in, as The Crypto Times noted in its pre-meeting policy preview. Rate futures and prediction markets had signalled a quarter-point hike as the base case, which helps explain why Bitcoin held its ground while the equities did not.
Data from Yahoo Finance show how the pain was distributed at Wednesday’s regular-session close.
Shares of Coinbase Global (COIN), the largest United States-based crypto exchange, closed at $164.51, down 4.42% or $7.60, with a session range of $161.21 to $173.97 on volume of 13,722,328 shares, well above its 8.69 million average. Its market capitalization stood at $43.40 billion.
Circle Internet Group (CRCL), the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, led the group lower with a 6.78% decline, or $5.85, to close at $80.45. Volume came in at 25,664,194 shares, and its market capitalization settled at $21.93 billion.
Robinhood Markets (HOOD), the online broker that derives a growing share of revenue from cryptocurrency trading, closed at $104.42, down 5.46% or $6.03, on 33,499,782 shares against a 22.51 million average. Its market capitalisation was $93.88 billion.
Strategy (MSTR), the Bitcoin treasury vehicle formerly known as MicroStrategy, closed at $126.18, down 2.64% or $3.42. Its market capitalisation stood at $50.13 billion.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by assets, closed at $43.04, down just 0.16%, with net assets of $61.44 billion.
Cipher Mining (CIFR) bucked the trend, closing at $16.72, up 10.80% or $1.63, on heavy volume of 62,689,927 shares. That move tracked headlines around conditional data-centre capacity classifications from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the operator of most of the Texas power grid, and was tied to a power and artificial intelligence compute narrative rather than to the Fed decision.
Overnight prints on Yahoo Finance ahead of the regular United States cash open showed small rebounds. COIN was at $168.35 at 4:06 a.m. EDT, CRCL at $83.58 at 4:06 a.m. EDT, HOOD at $105.89 at 2:17 a.m. EDT, MSTR at $129.74 at 4:23 a.m. EDT and IBIT at $43.28 at 2:33 a.m. EDT.
Bitcoin and Ethereum barely moved
Bitcoin (BTC) was quoted at $76,385.10 as of 8:17 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on September 17, up $714.71 or 0.94% over the previous 24 hours. Its intraday range was $76,045.64 to $76,573.48, and its market capitalisation stood at $1.533 trillion.
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, was at $2,437.79, up 1.53% over 24 hours.
The wider United States equity market finished mixed to lower on Wednesday. The S&P 500 closed at 7,551.81, down 33.92 points or 0.45%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 51,461.90, down 631.21 points or 1.21%. The Nasdaq Composite finished at 25,978.42, down 3.15 points or 0.01%.
Why equities took a bigger hit than the coin
The listed crypto names entered Wednesday already on the back foot. On September 15, the United States Senate failed 49-50 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), the market-structure bill that would divide regulatory jurisdiction over digital assets between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Senator Chris Coons did not vote. The tally is recorded in the Senate Democratic Caucus wrap-up for Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
Coinbase and Circle absorbed the CLARITY Act setback on Tuesday. Wednesday layered a higher policy rate on top of that.
The mechanics differ by name. Coinbase and Robinhood are activity-driven stocks. A higher overnight rate raises the yield on cash and short-term United States Treasury securities, which can draw retail balances away from speculative trading.
The failure of cloture on the CLARITY Act also leaves domestic crypto market-structure rules with the two federal agencies rather than with a new statute, a point that weighs more directly on the exchanges than on a passive Bitcoin position.
Circle is a reserve-income and regulation name. Higher short-term interest rates can lift the yield the company earns on its cash reserves over time, but that potential tailwind did not offset Wednesday’s risk-off tone. CRCL leading the group lower points more to the Senate cloture vote and positioning than to any straightforward “higher rates help stablecoin issuers” thesis.
Strategy is a Bitcoin treasury vehicle, and MSTR’s 2.64% decline tracked closer to Bitcoin than to the exchanges. That is the cleanest single read on the tape: the coin held up, the operating companies did not.
Cipher Mining was the exception that highlights the split. Its 10.80% gain was tied to Texas power grid headlines rather than the Fed path, cautioning against grouping every miner into a single “crypto stocks sold off” narrative.
ETF outflows added to the pressure
The Crypto Times reported earlier on September 17 that two-day spot Bitcoin ETF redemptions ran close to $746 million across September 15 and the following session, based on figures from data provider SoSoValue. That liquidity drain sits underneath IBIT’s flat close and the broader equity selloff. The live coverage of the FOMC decision walked through the statement and press conference in real time.
What Thursday’s cash open still has to answer
United States cash equities were closed as of 8:30 a.m. UTC on September 17, or 4:30 a.m. EDT. The overnight prints on Yahoo Finance showed COIN, CRCL, HOOD and MSTR off Wednesday’s worst levels, though that is not the same as a reversal.
Three items are worth watching at the regular session open.
First, whether COIN and CRCL can hold the overnight bounce or whether Wednesday’s heavy volume continues.
Second, whether IBIT and Bitcoin stay aligned. A flat ETF next to weaker exchange stocks would reinforce the message the Wednesday close already sent.
Third, whether any follow-through in CIFR remains tied to the Texas power headlines rather than to the interest rate path.
The Warsh-led Committee has said it will deliver price stability, and the federal funds rate is higher as of today. For the listed crypto complex, Wednesday was less about a 25 basis point surprise and more about the two-day sequence: no CLARITY Act cloture on Tuesday, a live rate hike on Wednesday, and a Fed chair who told reporters that financial conditions were not restrictive enough to wait.
Prices and market data are sourced from Yahoo Finance and are subject to change. Readers should recheck the relevant chart pages before the 9:30 a.m. EDT open.
Also Read: Zcash Surges Past $1,300: What Catalysts Are Really Driving ZEC Price?
