Bitcoin has surged above $85,000 this morning for the first time since late-January...
The rally comes alongside advances in stocks and bonds, as falling oil prices and optimism ahead of a summit between US President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping are buoying markets more broadly. Rival digital assets have also bounced.
Ether, the second-largest token, has spiked up to almost $2750, while other cryptocurrencies including XRP, Solana and Monero also posted gains...
Bitcoin’s gains build upon a recovery that began late last week, when crypto absorbed the failure of the landmark Clarity Act (up around 14% since) to establish a clearer understanding of industry regulation as well the Fed's first interest-rate increase in more than three years.
“Financial markets have rediscovered a risk-on frame of mind after being consumed with worry about government bond yields, debt piles and the prospect of a return to tighter policy at the world’s most powerful central bank,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at investing and trading platform IG.
A green light on Thursday from the Securities and Exchange Commission for digital versions of securities to start trading in the US helped to brighten the mood.
Interestingly, Bitcoin treasury founder and pioneer Michael Saylor has said that the blockage of the Clarity Act is actually good for the digital asset space.
Writing on X on Saturday, the Strategy founder and chair said that legislation can make restrictions permanent just as easily as rights.
The Digital Assets industry is better off moving forward with supportive rules from the SEC, CFTC, Treasury, and banking regulators than accepting the restrictions in the final CLARITY compromise. We have an administration willing to modernize financial markets. We should use the next two years to put better financial products into people’s hands.
Our safest path forward is to create products that delight customers and deploy them broadly. Lower costs, easier access, useful services, and greater control over money give people a direct interest in preserving innovation. The strongest constituency we can build is a public that benefits from what we create.
Legal certainty matters. So does the freedom to compete. A law can make a restriction durable just as easily as it can make a right durable. Before celebrating permanence, we should examine what we are making permanent.
The September CLARITY compromise would have restricted covered providers from paying customers simply for holding payment stablecoins, while allowing qualifying activity rewards. It also would have directed Treasury to restrict certain rewards upon specified findings of substantial, detrimental deposit transfers from community banks.
Protecting a bank from a liquidity crisis and protecting it from a better competitor are different objectives. Financial stability requires sound oversight. Competition requires that customers be free to choose a better service. When technology reduces the cost of delivering financial services, consumers should share in the savings.
Additionally, Saylor’s Strategy purchased Bitcoin for the first time in three weeks, acquiring $75.7 million of the original cryptocurrency after seeking to rebuild investor confidence by reshaping its balance sheet and building out reserves.
The original Bitcoin treasury company - co-founded and run by Saylor - also repurchased $174 million of its STRC perpetual preferred shares, part of its effort to lift the price above par so that the securities can be used again to finance future Bitcoin purchases. Cash was used to fund both transactions, Strategy said in a filing on Monday. The preferred trade just below $99.
Strategy is now (846,002) just 1363 BTC below its all time high holdings from June 22 when it was 847,365...
“The crypto market capitalization has risen to $2.8T, its highest level since the end of January this year,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, the FxPro chief market analyst.
“Although Friday’s rally was followed by increased selling pressure, buyers have once again been dominating the cryptocurrency market since Sunday.”
Bloomberg reports that bitcoin open interest on the options trading platform Deribit was heavily dominated by calls, signaling bullish sentiment. The platform showed more than 272,000 contracts for the right to buy the token compared with over 154,000 for puts, or the right to sell.
“Bitcoin options market is positioned to capture the upside,” said Pratik Kala, a portfolio manager at digital-asset hedge fund Apollo Crypto.
“People are repositioning from downside protection to wanting to capture the upside.”
But not all traders are convinced the momentum can last given the difficult macroeconomic headwinds, with crude oil still above $100 a barrel and US Treasury yields elevated.
Bitcoin is well off its 2026 high of over $97,000 in mid-January, and even further from its October record. Retail enthusiasm has also proven hard to rekindle as artificial intelligence stocks and other AI-linked trades compete for the same pool of speculative capital.
“For this week, there aren’t any big catalysts to watch out for per se, but any hawkish or dovish remarks by Fed officials could impact the market,” said Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of BTSE.
Finally, we note that ETF inflows have re-accelerated...
Various investor cohorts also returned to aggregate profit, including Bitcoin corporate treasuries, holdings of which have a cost basis of around $80,500. Now, price is approaching its cost basis for investors in US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Per data by onchain analytics platform Glassnode, this cost basis currently sits at $85,638...
In a departure from the norm, the largest Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), did not account for the lion’s share of inflows. Instead, most investors piled into Fidelity Investments’ Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), which accounted for $310 million of the total. In their analysis of recent market developments, the onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant discussed this change in ETF netflow composition.
“The key change is therefore not simply positive ETF activity, but a clear redistribution of flow leadership: IBIT went from dominating FBTC by nearly six times on September 3 to FBTC recording almost three times IBIT’s holdings netflow on September 18,” CryptoQuant stated in a blog post.
After reacting positively to the announcement of US bond-market interventions in August, Bitcoin market participants continue to monitor any events surrounding yields. In a report for CME on Sept. 16, Jim Iuorio, CEO of JI Financial Strategies, argued that interventions may represent a liquidity tailwind for Bitcoin and crypto markets.
“Perhaps markets viewed these actions as being dollar-negative, pushing money back into dollar hedges like gold and Bitcoin,” he said.
Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 11:45Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,
A top Danish official said on Sept. 19 that an agreement announced by U.S. President Donald Trump for the United States to handle security for Greenland would lead to a better outcome in the region.
Both Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous island that is Danish territory, expressed hope that the deal would end any uncertainty regarding the island's security.
On Sept. 19, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that the deal between Denmark, Greenland, and the United States could be signed this week, which comes as foreign delegations head to New York City for the U.N. General Assembly.
"Next week could be a good week - for Greenland, Denmark, and the USA alike," he said in a statement posted to social media.
"A time of uncertainty will hopefully give way to a binding agreement that strengthens security in the Arctic and the North Atlantic - and thereby our shared security within NATO and Europe - while respecting the Kingdom's red lines.
"This is important at a time when the security landscape, including in the Arctic, has changed."
Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a statement last week that the proposed deal "recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination."
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen indicated that the deal would provide a favorable outcome for Greenland's residents.
"[It is] an agreement that at the same time recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the right of the Greenlandic people to self-determination," Frederiksen said in a statement.
Trump on Sept. 18 wrote on Truth Social that the United States, under the deal, would be responsible for security over Greenland, an Arctic island in the North Atlantic, on a permanent basis.
"At my direction, we worked with representatives of Denmark and Greenland to guarantee that the United States will FOREVER have the complete ability to do what is necessary in Greenland in order to secure and defend the security of Greenland, and the United States of America," Trump said.
As part of the deal, no U.S. adversary such as China or Russia would be able to have a base in Greenland, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a Fox News interview.
Trump also wrote that the United States will now start the process of implementing a military presence around Greenland and will work with residents of the island on its development. Previous U.S. presidents were aware of Greenland's strategic importance, he added.
With his return to the White House in 2025, Trump initially called on Denmark to sell the island to the United States and said Greenland is crucial to U.S. security, which prompted criticism from European Union leaders and individual nations. At one point, Trump warned that Denmark could face a 25 percent import tax on goods unless it ceded the island to U.S. control.
Denmark and Greenland repeatedly stated that the island is not for sale, even as Trump said the island is needed to deal with military threats posed by Russia and China.
Last March, Vice President JD Vance visited American troops at the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, where he argued that Denmark was failing to protect and invest in the island amid Russian and Chinese threats.
Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 11:40After an extremely busy week for central bank decisions, the week ahead brings a mix of economic data, even more central bank decisions, lots of Fed speak, and geopolitical events.
The first read of the September PMIs across the major economies on Wednesday should provide the most timely update on global growth momentum, while investors will also be watching policy decisions from the Norges Bank, Riksbank and SNB on Thursday with their hike probabilities according to futures at 62%, 21% and 5% respectively, according to Deutsche Bank.
Attention will also turn to the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi on Thursday which will likely garner a lot of headlines. We also have opening week of the UN General Assembly debate in New York.
In the US, the focus will increasingly shift towards next Friday’s payrolls report, which will be the most important data release before the October FOMC meeting. Ahead of that, markets will be very keen to hear from a heavy schedule of Fed speakers throughout the week. These comments will frame last week’s FOMC meeting, where policymakers delivered a widely expected rate increase but signalled a more hawkish policy outlook. The updated projections showed a strong majority of officials anticipating further tightening, while Chair Warsh emphasized that the Committee still sees limited evidence that policy is meaningfully restrictive.
Fed communication begins today with Chicago Fed President Goolsbee alongside the Chicago Fed National Activity Index. Tomorrow, investors receive the Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing survey and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index. On the policy front, Fed Vice Chairs Williams and Jefferson are due to speak. Williams is viewed as one of the four officials who are still expected to see the Fed easing by the end of next year, so any hints on that outlook will be closely scrutinized.
Wednesday’s main event will be the September flash PMIs. Economists expect the US manufacturing PMI to edge down to 53.6 from 53.9, while the services gauge is forecast to ease slightly to 55.9 from 56.5. Given the recent focus on AI-related investment and broader capex trends, these surveys will be watched closely for signs that business activity remains resilient. Fed Governor Barr is also due to speak. Investors will also be watching Wednesday's Treasury buyback announcement ahead of Thursday's 20-30yr operation, particularly after last month's decision to at least double the size of long-end buybacks.
Thursday sees August new home sales and initial jobless claims. Last week continuing claims hit their lowest since January 2024. Fed speakers include Williams, Barkin, Hammack and Paulson, offering further opportunities for markets to assess where officials stand after last week’s hawkish meeting. Friday’s US durable goods report will be particularly important from a growth perspective. Our economists expect headline orders to rise by 0.6% month-on-month, with orders excluding transportation and core capital goods both expected to increase by 1.1%. The data should provide one of the clearest indications yet of whether the recent strength in business investment is being sustained. Williams and Hammack are also due to speak on Friday.
Here is a day-by-day calendar, courtesy of DB
Day-by-day calendar of events
Monday September 21
Tuesday September 22
Wednesday September 23
Thursday September 24
Friday September 25
Looking at just the US, The key economic data release this week is the durable goods report on Friday. There are many speaking engagements with Fed officials this week, including events with Governor Barr on Wednesday, President Paulson on Thursday, President Hammack on Thursday and Friday, and President Williams on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Monday, September 21
Tuesday, September 22
Wednesday, September 23
Thursday, September 24
Friday, September 25
Source: DB, Goldman
Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 10:55Just as the Iranian delegation of President Masoud Pezeshkian is set to fly to New York City for this week's UN General Assembly, where it's expected that the Iranians could be engaged in some sideline diplomacy with the White House, another tanker incident has unfolded off in the Persian Gulf area.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency is reporting Monday that an oil tanker has been "struck by an unknown projectile" while on an inbound transit route in the Strait of Hormuz.
As a result of the attack under as yet unknown circumstances two crew members suffered "minor injuries". But the vessel is reportedly in good enough shape to continue on to its next port of call.
It may have been the result of a small drone, given what appears to only be light damage or an incident not significant enough to put the vessel out of commission. Tehran is seeking to keep its leverage and 'control' over the vital energy transit waterway.
"Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO," the reiterated.
But oil prices have slid to their lowest in 11 days amid optimism that Iran's Pezeshkian could hold talks with US officials, or else could engage in renewed diplomacy via mediators on the UN sidelines.
Trump in a Sunday Fox News interview actually indicated openness to a meeting with Pezeshkian, in a first of the war. Trump was asked about the high level UN meeting and surprisingly he went so far as to say he would "probably be open" to meeting with the Iranian president.
Still, this was all coupled with threats. In Trump's mind, there seem to be three options on the table, or as he put it--"to obliterate Iran, letting it rot economically or reach a deal."
Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, has observed, "It seems that a degree of risk premium is being removed from oil prices on hopes that a diplomatic path to de-escalate the US-Iran war may arrive this week."
Meanwhile, a regional US commander has claimed that oil and liquefied natural gas shipments through the the Strait of Hormuz have reached their highest level in six months. This is being hailed as a sign that US naval protection and mine-clearing efforts could finally be paying off.
Iran has meanwhile over the weekend once again warned US allies in the region that they'll be considered "complicit" if the US resumes it military assault on the Islamic Republic. The Iranian military HQ stated that "any mistakes will result in painful attacks."
Iran’s President Will Enter the U.S. DURING the War for the UN Meeting
This is VERY RISKY
President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to travel to New York in the coming days to address the UN General Assembly and meet world leaders.
The security situation is extraordinary. Dr.… pic.twitter.com/AtY24KDYEd
Tehran further indicated Sunday that it is still awaiting Trump's response to its conditions for ending the war. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf confirmed to AFP that Iran's demands were sent to Washington via the Qataris. The US could decide to convey its counter offer while the Pezeshkian delegation is in town.
Tyler Durden Mon, 09/21/2026 - 10:45