Crypto markets staged a broad recovery on Friday, with bitcoin climbing back above the $80,000 mark after a week dominated by disappointment over the failure of the Clarity Act in the U.S. Senate and by hotter-than-expected inflation data that pushed interest rate expectations higher. According to CoinDesk's live coverage, bitcoin rose nearly 6% over a 24-hour period and touched $81,000 during the session.
The rebound was not limited to the largest cryptocurrency. CoinDesk reported that ether gained 7.3% and rebounded to nearly $2,600, XRP advanced 8.9%, and solana jumped 12.7%. Solana was among the standouts, breaking out to fresh highs after several weeks of consolidating a roughly 50% rally recorded in August. SOL traded around $112 on Friday, described as its highest price in seven months, outperforming both bitcoin and ether. That strength spilled over into Solana's decentralized finance ecosystem, including Jupiter, the token of the network's trading aggregator, and Raydium, a Solana-based protocol.
Derivatives markets amplified the move. Data from CoinGlass cited by CoinDesk showed roughly $470 million of short crypto derivatives positions were liquidated over the preceding 24 hours. Bitcoin bears absorbed the largest share of those losses, with about $238 million of BTC shorts wiped out, while roughly $85 million of bearish ether positions were also closed out. Forced liquidations of this kind can add fuel to an existing rally, because exchanges automatically close losing short positions, which generates additional buying pressure in derivatives markets. That mechanical feedback loop is a common feature of sharp reversals in crypto trading, though it does not by itself indicate the direction of future prices.
Regulatory developments appeared to be part of the backdrop. CoinDesk noted that Hyperliquid's HYPE token rose to a new all-time high, trading around $92 and gaining about 11% over 24 hours, as traders reacted to signs of movement on U.S. crypto regulation. The rally coincided with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's submission of a proposal titled "Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets" to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. Submission to OMB is a procedural step in the federal rulemaking process and precedes any public proposal or final rule; the contents of the CFTC's draft were not detailed in the report.
Publicly traded companies with exposure to digital assets moved in step with tokens. CoinDesk reported that crypto-related stocks were higher across the board, with many posting double-digit percentage gains. Coinbase rose 11.7%, Strategy gained 16.4%, Gemini climbed 31%, Securitize added 21.7% and MARA Holdings advanced 13.7%.
The rally is notable because it came despite two headwinds that had weighed on sentiment earlier in the week: the Senate's rejection of the Clarity Act, which would have established a clearer market-structure framework for digital assets in the United States, and expectations of tighter monetary policy. Markets frequently reprice quickly after legislative setbacks, and a single session of gains does not establish a trend.
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Source: CoinDesk · 2026-09-19
