Live updates: Bitcoin continues near $76,000 as stocks surge following Fed rate hike

liveUpdated 29 minutes ago

The SEC debuted its long-awaited “innovation exemption,” providing a roadmap for blockchain-based venues to offer tokenized securities.

By Shaurya Malwa, James Van Straten, and Stephen Alpher|Edited by Stephen Alpher

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“I’m back,” said Julian Assange in an X post minutes ago. His post was preceded by a post from WikiLeaks saying the same thing, but with a picture of the whistleblowing journalist looking fit and ready for action.

De-banking has become a popular term in recent years, but Assange’s WikiLeaks was the original victim, cut off from funding in 2010 by the likes of Visa, MasterCard, and PayPal thanks to pressure from the U.S. government.

Assange, at the request of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, initially refrained from using the then-new crypto for fundraising due to concerns that the government might shut down the network.

Later, Assange’s family raised money via bitcoin for his legal expenses.

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Down big earlier this week as the Clarity Act failed, Coinbase (COIN), Circle (CRCL), Bullish (BLSH), Robinhood (HOOD), and Securitize (SECZ) are posting solid gains in pre-market action after the SEC rolled out its long-awaited “innovation exemption.”

“Blockchain-based trading venues that want to list and trade tokenized securities received fresh permission and an explanation of how to do that from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday,” wrote CoinDesk’s Krisztian Sandor, Nikhilesh De, Jesse Hamilton.

“Tokenization is coming to America,” said Robinhood’s Vlad Tenev. “Thanks to the SEC’s leadership, Americans can start to reap the benefits of tokenization: instant settlement, 24/7 trading, fractionalization by default and more. It’s a good day for U.S. innovation.”

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CleanSpark (CLSK) rose 5% after proposing a $2.227 billion debt offering due 2031. Proceeds will finish building its Sandersville data center, repay CleanSpark for money already invested in the project and set aside funds for debt payments.

CoreWeave (CRWV) fell 2% after announcing a $3 billion convertible debt offering due 2033, potentially rising to $3.5 billion. Most proceeds are earmarked for general corporate purposes, with no specific project identified. Some will fund options designed to limit shareholder dilution if the debt converts into shares.

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U.S. initial jobless claims fell to 196,000 last week, according to a report from the BLS Thursday morning. That’s down from an already low 206,000 the week prior, and well shy of forecasts for a small rise to 208,000.

The four-week average fell to 203,250 from 206,000.

The interest rate-sensitive housing market, though, continues to soften, with U.S. housing starts falling 2.6% in August to a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 1.275 million. That’s down from 1.309 million in July and below forecasts for 1.31 million.

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WTI crude oil is back below $100 per barrel for the first time in about a week on a Reuters report that China has asked Iranian leaders to help rein in Yemen’s Houthis.

The move by China came at the request of the Saudis after military advances by the Houthis.

WTI is now lower by 3% to $99.40 per barrel.

That’s helping bond yields, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury down 5.4 basis points to 4.95%. And that’s helping risk assets, with bitcoin (BTC) climbing 1.15% to $76,900 and Nasdaq 100 futures now higher by 1.5%.

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Nasdaq 100 futures are higher by 1.1% a bit less than two hours before the New York open. S&P 500 and DJIA futures are up 0.9%.

With the Fed rate hike out of the way and another rate hike all but assured for either the October or December meetings (or both), investors — it appears — are getting back to the business of buying low and selling high.

U.S. bond yields have eased, with the 10-year Treasury down 3 basis points to 4.975% and even the two-year lower by 1.4 basis points to 4.71%.

Oil is easing a bit too, with WTI crude oil pulling back to $100.76 per barrel from as high as $107 earlier this week.

Crypto is flattish, with bitcoin trading at $76,100, roughly the same level as just prior to the rate hike.

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The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-3 to hold interest rates at 3.75%, warning that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and rising oil prices could intensify inflationary pressures heading into the first quarter of 2027. Brent crude is trading above $103 a barrel.

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Zcash rose more than 17% to nearly $1,358 as of Asian morning hours Thursday, far ahead of every other major, according to CoinDesk data.

Solana and hyperliquid each added about 3%, with BNB, dogecoin and ether up roughly 2%. Bitcoin climbed 1% to just above $76,400, XRP the same, and tron was flat.

The Fed raised its target range by a quarter point to 375 to 400 basis points on Wednesday, its first hike of the cycle after markets had priced the move at roughly 69% going in. Bitcoin barely moved on the decision. Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said in an email that bitcoin had already “overreacted negatively” to the CLARITY Act failing in the Senate this week, leaving it less exposed to a stronger dollar.

Some 86,816 traders were liquidated over 24 hours for a combined $345 million, per CoinGlass. Liquidation is when an exchange force-closes a leveraged position because the trader’s collateral no longer covers the loss. Shorts made up $208 million of that against $137 million of longs, so most of the pain landed on traders betting prices would fall.

Ether led at nearly $89 million, bitcoin at $85 million and zcash at $56 million. The largest single order was an $18 million bitcoin position closed on Hyperliquid.

Zcash produced $56 million of liquidations on a market capitalization of $23 billion. Watch whether that leverage rebuilds through Thursday, because it has fuelled every leg of this run.