TL;DR
U.S. equities ended a volatile week mixed, as markets digested the Federal Reserve’s first rate hike in three years. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.72% to 26,522.54, while the S&P 500 was broadly flat, slipping 0.08% to 7,650.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed, falling 1.69% to 51,682.64.
Oil prices pulled back from midweek highs near US$110 per barrel, as Saudi logistical workarounds and pipeline repairs helped ease concerns over potential supply disruptions. Brent crude fell 2.08% to US$102.94 per barrel, while WTI ended nearly unchanged at US$100.03 per barrel.
U.S. Treasury yields moved higher following the FOMC’s 25-basis-point rate hike. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose 3 basis points to 5.00%, after briefly touching an intraday high of 5.01%, while the more policy-sensitive 2-year yield climbed 13 basis points to 4.756%.
Spot gold (XAU/USD) gained 0.67% to US$4,378.39 per ounce, recovering toward the end of the week as crude oil prices eased and sovereign bond yields stabilized around key psychological levels.
NEAR and Zcash led gains among major crypto assets, supported by protocol-specific catalysts. NEAR surged 78.1% on developments around post-quantum security, dynamic resharding, and privacy-focused perpetuals, while Zcash gained 40.3% following the release of its NU7 roadmap, which targets faster block times and stronger long-term tokenomics.
The CFTC submitted its crypto market regulation plan to the White House for review, marking another step toward a clearer U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets.
S&P Global led a strategic investment in Kaiko, extending the crypto market data provider’s Series B funding round to US$110 million.
dtcpay closed a US$25 million Series A round, with strategic investment from SBI Group, supporting the company’s continued expansion in stablecoin-powered payments and digital financial infrastructure.
Macro Overview
Equities Diverge as Fed Delivers 25 bps Rate Hike and Energy Pressures Ease Late-Week
Global financial markets navigated significant macro crosscurrents during the week ending September 18, 2026, headlined by the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision and fluctuating geopolitical energy supply risks. On Wednesday, September 16, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted unanimously (12–0) to raise the federal funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00% — the central bank’s first interest rate increase since July 2023. In his post-meeting press conference, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh underscored that persistent price pressures and a resilient economy necessitated restrictive action, emphasizing that the Fed’s commitment to price stability remains paramount. The updated dot plot indicated that a majority of policymakers foresee at least one additional 25-basis-point hike before year-end, while the median 2026 GDP growth projection was upgraded to 2.3%.
Energy markets experienced severe midweek volatility before cooling into Friday’s close. Early-week attacks targeting Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline temporarily halted deliveries to the Red Sea export terminal at Yanbu, sending Brent crude toward US$$ 110 per barrel. However, selling pressure emerged late in the week following reports that Saudi Aramco mobilized ship-to-ship crude transfers outside the Persian Gulf near Oman’s Sohar port and began rapid repairs on the damaged line. China also intervened diplomatically to urge de-escalation. Consequently, Brent crude fell 2.08% on the week to finish at U$$ 102.94 per barrel, while WTI crude closed at US$ 100.03 per barrel, helping to temper acute near-term inflation anxiety.
Fixed-income markets adjusted to a higher-for-longer trajectory, bear-flattening in response to the Fed’s tightening action. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield advanced 3 basis points to close at 5.00% (reaching 5.01% intraday), marking its highest sustained level since late 2023. The 2-year Treasury yield climbed 13 basis points to 4.756% as markets fully priced in the Fed’s hawkish posture. Meanwhile, the 30-year Treasury yield slipped 3 basis points to settle at 5.33%, supported by demand for long-duration hedges against slowing future growth.
Equity market performance showed marked divergence. Large-cap technology and growth sectors demonstrated resilience, aided by persistent enterprise AI demand and easing oil prices late in the week. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.72% to settle at 26,522.54. Conversely, industrials and rate-sensitive cyclicals were weighed down by higher borrowing costs and an unexpected 0.30% contraction in August U.S. factory output, driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.69% to 51,682.64. The S&P 500 absorbed both forces, edging down 0.08% to close at 7,650.50. (1)
Asset Class Highlights
U.S. Dollar Index (DXY)
U.S. Dollar Index
The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) rallied 1.14% over the week to settle at 100.22 (up from 99.09), breaking back above the 100 mark. The dollar drew firm support from the Federal Reserve’s rate hike and hawkish forward guidance, which widened interest rate differentials against the Euro and Japanese Yen. (2)
U.S. Treasury Yields
U.S. Treasury Yields
Yields rose across short- and intermediate-term tenors following monetary tightening: 10-Year Treasury Yield settled at 5.00% from 4.97% the prior week; intraday high of 5.01%. 30-Year Treasury Yield settled at 5.33% from 5.36% the prior week. (3)
Gold
Gold
Spot gold (XAU/USD) stabilized after post-FOMC volatility, gaining 0.67% to finish at US$ 4,378.39 per ounce. Bullion rebounded from a six-week low during Friday’s session as oil prices retreated and benchmark 10-year yields paused near 5.00%, offsetting headwinds from a stronger U.S. dollar. (4)
Crypto Markets Overview
Main Assets
ETH/BTC Ratio
BTC rose 5.6% over the week, while ETH gained 6.7%, pushing the ETH/BTC ratio up 1.1%. Despite the price rebound, ETF flows remained negative: Bitcoin ETFs recorded US$462.3M in net outflows, while Ethereum ETFs saw US$140M in net outflows. (5)
Meanwhile, market sentiment improved sharply, with the Fear & Greed Index climbing back into the Greed zone at 70, up from 57 last week. (6)
Total Market Cap
Crypto Total Marketcap
Crypto Total Marketcap Excluding BTC and ETH
Crypto Total Marketcap Excluding Top 10 Dominance
Total crypto market cap rose 6.3% last week, while market cap excluding BTC and ETH gained 7.4%. At the same time, altcoin dominance excluding the top 10 surged 16.6%, pointing to a meaningful broadening of the rally beyond large-cap tokens.
STRC Performance
STRC recorded $760M in trading volume last week, with price trading at around $98.5.
Strategy made no new Bitcoin purchases last week, leaving its holdings unchanged at roughly 845,050 BTC. Instead, the company deployed around US$139M to repurchase STRC preferred shares, continuing its effort to bring STRC back toward its US$100 par value.
At the same time, Strategy maintained approximately US$6.4B in USD liquidity and reserve assets, giving it substantial capacity to cover preferred dividends, debt interest, future share repurchases, and potentially resume Bitcoin accumulation. (7)
Top 30 Crypto Assets Performance
Source: Coinmarketcap and Gate Ventures, as of 21st Sep 2026
Among the top 30 assets, prices surged 13.9% on average, Near, ZCash, and Avax led the gain.
NEAR surged 78.1% last week, supported by two main catalysts: Renewed attention around nearcore 2.13, which introduced FIPS-204 post-quantum signing and dynamic resharding; NEAR launched privacy-focused perpetual trading through Hyperliquid, offering 50+ markets, up to 40× leverage and cross-chain funding while obscuring the link between users’ wallets and trading positions. (8) (9)
Zcash surged 40.3%, supported by the newly agreed NU7 roadmap, which targets 25-second blocks and an expected November 5 mainnet activation. The upgrade could reduce confirmation latency by roughly 3x while preserving the halving schedule and deferring NSM reissuance until February 2031, strengthening both its utility and tokenomics narratives. (10)
The Key Crypto Highlights
Kalshi files to launch US stock perpetual futures
Kalshi has filed with the SEC and CFTC to offer perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks, joining Coinbase and Bitnomial in bringing crypto-style derivatives into traditional equity markets. The proposed contracts would have no expiration date and use periodic funding payments between longs and shorts to keep prices aligned with the underlying shares, while clearing would be handled through Kalshi’s CFTC-registered clearinghouse, Kalshi Klear. If approved, the product would give US traders continuous leveraged exposure to single stocks through a structure similar to crypto perpetuals, although the CFTC has not yet approved the proposal. (11)
CFTC submits crypto market regulation plan for White House review
The CFTC has submitted a new regulatory action covering crypto asset transactions and crypto markets to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, just days after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act. The proposal is still at the prerule stage, so detailed requirements have not yet been published, but CFTC Chair Michael Selig has said the agency is prepared to use its existing authority to establish a crypto market regime, potentially allowing registered and currently unregistered crypto exchanges to operate as a new form of CFTC-supervised "crypto asset market" for leveraged and margined trading. The move signals that US regulators may continue building a federal crypto framework through agency rulemaking even without new legislation from Congress. (12)
Bastion wins conditional approval for US national trust bank charter
Stablecoin infrastructure provider Bastion has received preliminary conditional approval from the OCC to establish Bastion Platforms National Trust Company, giving it a federally supervised entity alongside its existing state licenses. The trust bank would be able to offer stablecoin custody and wallets, payment infrastructure, and white-label stablecoin issuance under one regulated platform, although it would not be permitted to take deposits or make loans like a traditional commercial bank. The approval strengthens Bastion’s position as a regulated stablecoin infrastructure provider and follows similar charter progress from firms including Ripple, Circle and BitGo. (13)
Key Ventures Deals
S&P Global leads strategic investment in Kaiko, extending Series B to US$110M
S&P Global has led a strategic investment in digital-asset data provider Kaiko, extending its Series B funding to US$110 million, with participation from BNP Paribas, Nasdaq Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, RBC, Broadridge, DRW, Stellar and other financial institutions. The funding will support Kaiko’s expansion from crypto market data into regulated data infrastructure for tokenized capital markets, including delivering off-chain data to smart contracts, standardizing on-chain activity for institutional systems, and providing valuation and analytics for tokenized assets. Participating investors have also joined a Kaiko-chaired Strategic Industry Working Group to help shape data standards and infrastructure for bringing tokenized products such as Treasuries, money market funds, equities and bonds into production. (14)
{1789977750933764} raises US$20M seed round to build global stablecoin payment infrastructure
Fin.com has emerged from stealth after raising a US$20 million seed round led by Expa and Uber cofounder Garrett Camp, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Tenet Fund and other investors. The company provides white-label stablecoin payment infrastructure that helps financial platforms, consumer apps and prediction markets move funds between crypto exchanges, stablecoins, local bank accounts and digital wallets, targeting the "last-mile" problem in cross-border payments. Fin.com is initially focused on South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and says its customers collectively serve more than 800 million users, positioning the company to compete with infrastructure providers such as Circle, BVNK and Stripe-owned Bridge. (15)
dtcpay closes US$25M Series A with strategic investment from SBI Group
Singapore-based stablecoin payments firm dtcpay has completed a US$25 million Series A, with Japan’s SBI Group joining as a strategic investor through SBI Ventures Asset and the SBI-NTU-Kyobo Digital Innovation Fund. The round, initially led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, will support dtcpay’s expansion of its stablecoin payment infrastructure, enterprise business portal and merchant network, as well as new consumer features in its app. dtcpay provides infrastructure for businesses and individuals to accept, store and transact in stablecoins, and has also launched a stablecoin point-of-sale product and a Visa stablecoin-to-fiat card in Singapore, positioning it to scale cross-border payments into additional regulated markets. (16)
Ventures Market Metrics
A total of 10 deals closed last week, led by infrastructure with 8 deals and social having 2.
Weekly Venture Deal Summary, Source: Cryptorank and Gate Ventures, as of 21st Sep 2026
Total disclosed funding reached $119.75M, with 3 deals not disclosing their funding amounts. Kaiko raised the largest round at $57M, while Infrastructure was the top-funded sector with $117.25M raised in total.
Weekly Venture Deal Summary, Source: Cryptorank and Gate Ventures, as of 21st Sep 2026
Total weekly fundraising declined to $119.8M for the third week of Sep-2026, a decrease of 24% compared to the week prior.
About Gate Ventures
Gate Ventures, the venture capital arm of Gate, is focused on investments in decentralized infrastructure, middleware, and applications that will reshape the world in the Web 3.0 age. Working with industry leaders across the globe, Gate Ventures helps promising teams and startups that possess the ideas and capabilities needed to redefine social and financial interactions.
Website | Twitter | Medium | LinkedIn
The content herein does not constitute any offer, solicitation, or recommendation . You should always seek independent professional advice before making any investment decisions. Please note that Gate Ventures may restrict or prohibit the use of all or a portion of the services from restricted locations. For more information, please read its applicable user agreement.
Reference:
https://www.jhinvestments.com/weekly-market-recap#market-moving-news
https://www.investing.com/rates-bonds/u.s.-10-year-bond-yield, https://www.investing.com/rates-bonds/u.s.-30-year-bond-yield
BTC & ETH ETF Inflow: https://sosovalue.com/tc/assets/etf/us-btc-spot
BTC Greed and Fear Index: https://alternative.me/crypto/fear-and-greed-index/
STRC Repurchase: https://news.cnyes.com/news/id/6606054
Near Protocol Upgrade: https://coinmarketcap.com/community/articles/6a5f2ce4c173b018025ee3c0/
Near Protocol launches privacy perps: https://www.tradingview.com/news/coinpedia:e5837c2bc094b:0-near-surges-21-as-it-launches-historic-confidential-perps-powered-by-hyperliquid/
Zcash NU7 roadmap upgrade: https://z.cash/upgrade/nu7/
Kalshi files to launch US stock perpetual futures: https://cointelegraph.com/news/kalshi-joins-coinbase-with-filing-for-us-stock-perpetual-futures
CFTC submits crypto market regulation plan for White House review: https://cointelegraph.com/news/cftc-submits-crypto-market-regulation-plan-for-white-house-review
Bastion wins conditional approval for US national trust bank charter: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bastion-wins-conditional-occ-approval-for-national-trust-bank-charter
S&P Global leads strategic investment in Kaiko, extending Series B to US$110M: https://www.kaiko.com/news/sp-global-leads-strategic-investment-in-kaiko-extending-series-b-to-110-million
Fin.com raises US$20M seed round to build global stablecoin payment infrastructure: ****https://fortune.com/2026/09/09/exclusive-latitude-stripe-uber-alums-35-million-stablecoins-local-payments/
dtcpay closes US$25M Series A with strategic investment from SBI Group: https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-09-18-dtcpay-series-a-sbi-group-415483
