Bitcoin Holds Steady as Fed Hikes Rates and Congress Advances Strategic Reserve Bill
The Fed raised rates for the first time since 2023, yet Bitcoin barely moved — while a bill to lock the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into law cleared a key House committee the same week.
Two developments dominated U.S. crypto headlines this week, and together they capture where the asset class stands heading into the final stretch of 2026: a Federal Reserve that just resumed tightening, and a Congress edging closer to writing Bitcoin into federal law.
The Fed Raises Rates — and Bitcoin Barely Blinks
The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.75% to 4.00%, its first increase since July 2023. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh told reporters the move was meant to support a "timelier return of inflation to 2 percent" target.
What normally rattles risk assets barely dented crypto this time. Bitcoin showed little immediate reaction to the announcement, trading close to its pre-decision level and up roughly 1.35% over 24 hours, which analysts attributed to the hike already being priced in by markets. The bigger story for traders was the Fed's forward guidance: the updated dot plot points to a median federal funds rate of 4.1% at the end of both 2026 and 2027, signaling one more quarter-point hike this year and no rate cuts penciled in for next year.
Bitcoin ultimately rose about 0.88% over 24 hours to roughly $76,600, while zcash jumped 23% to a record high after a stake disclosure from investment firm Paradigm. The rally was broad-based — the Dollar Index eased while Nasdaq futures, S&P 500 futures, gold, and silver all advanced alongside crypto, suggesting digital assets are increasingly trading in step with the rest of the risk market rather than moving on their own signals.
A Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Moves Closer to Becoming Law
While traders digested the Fed, lawmakers in Washington delivered a milestone of their own. The House Financial Services Committee approved the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, known as H.R. 8957, by a 28-21 vote, sending it toward the full House for consideration.
The bill, introduced by Alaska Republican Nick Begich with Maine Democrat Jared Golden as co-lead, would codify the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve into federal law and lock the government's existing Bitcoin holdings for 20 years, with no sales, swaps, or trades permitted during that period. Crucially, the reserve was built primarily from Bitcoin seized through federal criminal and civil forfeiture cases rather than open-market purchases, and any plan for the government to actively buy Bitcoin would require separate legislation — namely the BITCOIN Act proposed by Senator Cynthia Lummis.
The version that passed committee wasn't the original text. Lawmakers adopted a substitute amendment from Rep. Bryan Steil that replaced the original quarterly proof-of-reserve reporting requirement with an annual schedule, and directed Treasury and Commerce to study budget-neutral Bitcoin acquisitions that avoid new borrowing, new taxes, or deficit spending. The committee also rejected a competing amendment from Ranking Member Maxine Waters before advancing the bill.
Passing committee is only a first step. H.R. 8957 still needs approval from the full House, identical passage in the Senate, and the president's signature before any of its provisions take effect. Estimates of how much Bitcoin the reserve currently holds vary widely — somewhere between roughly 198,000 and 328,372 BTC, depending on which forfeiture wallets are attributed to U.S. agencies — since the Treasury has yet to publish a reconciled figure.
What It Means for the Market
Taken together, Wednesday's two headlines tell a story of a crypto market growing more entangled with — and more resilient to — traditional U.S. policy. Monetary tightening that would once have triggered a selloff instead coincided with gains across major tokens, while a once-fringe idea, a congressionally protected national Bitcoin reserve, is now working its way through the normal legislative process rather than existing solely as an executive order.
Neither development is final. The Fed has signaled more tightening may be coming, and H.R. 8957 faces a full House vote, a Senate companion, and a presidential signature before it becomes binding law. But both point in the same direction: Bitcoin is increasingly being treated as a mainstream macro and policy asset in Washington, not a speculative sideshow.
