Bitcoin Rises; Bittime Highlights Futures Activity Amid Fed Sentiment and the CLARITY Act

Jakarta, September 22, 2026 – Bittime, a Digital Financial Asset Trader (PAKD) offering a 3-in-1 ecosystem of Spot, Staking, and Futures on a single platform registered with and supervised by the Financial Services Authority (OJK), is closely monitoring Bitcoin's strengthening and changes in crypto Futures trading activity amid developments in global monetary policy and digital asset regulations. 

According to data from CoinMarketCap on Wednesday morning (September 23, 2026), Bitcoin was trading at around US$86,300, up 0.76% over the past 24 hours and 14.17% over the past week.

Bitcoin Strengthens After Moving Past Two Key Sentiment Drivers

Bitcoin's strengthening came after the market moved past two important agendas from the previous week, namely the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and developments surrounding the CLARITY Act in the United States Senate.

On September 16, 2026, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%-4.00%. According to the Federal Reserve's official statement, the decision was made while inflation remained elevated and U.S. economic activity continued to expand.

The previous day, the U.S. Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act legislation after the vote received only 50 votes to 49, below the 60-vote threshold required. According to a report by Reuters, Bitcoin and several crypto assets came under pressure following the voting results.

However, Bitcoin subsequently strengthened again and broke above US$85,000 on September 21. 

According to a report by The Block, Bitcoin rose more than 5% in 24 hours, while more than US$750 million worth of crypto positions were liquidated. Around US$648.3 million of those liquidations came from short positions.

Bittime Chief Operating Officer Ryan Lymn said the changes show that market participants can respond quickly to macroeconomic and regulatory developments.

“Bitcoin's movement following the Fed's decision and developments surrounding the CLARITY Act shows that the market can quickly readjust positions. Therefore, it is important to assess price movements alongside trading volume, Futures positions, and overall market sentiment,” Ryan said.

Futures Activity Before and After the Fed Decision and CLARITY Act

Changes in Futures market activity had already emerged before the two agendas took place. According to Sentiment data cited by CoinNess, Bitcoin Futures open interest fell by around 13.5%, from 321,497 BTC on September 3 to 278,151 BTC on September 11.

The decline in open interest indicates that some market participants reduced their positions or leverage ahead of events that could potentially increase volatility.

Data from Talos also showed that Futures trading volume increased 6.3% week over week to US$1.07 trillion for the September 10-16 period. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin open interest denominated in U.S. dollars declined 1.6% to US$44.4 billion. Bitcoin liquidations increased 15.9% week over week to US$398.3 million, with liquidation activity concentrated around the time the CLARITY Act vote failed.

After Bitcoin strengthened again, Futures activity also increased. According to a report by The Block, more than US$648 million in short positions were liquidated when Bitcoin broke above US$85,000.

Ryan added that changes in Futures market positioning need to be viewed in a broader context and do not automatically indicate the direction of Bitcoin's next move.

“Increased Futures activity and short-position liquidations can amplify price movements in the short term, but these conditions do not necessarily indicate that a particular trend will continue. Traders should understand that positions in the Futures market can change quickly in response to market volatility and sentiment,” Ryan added.

Bittime Monitors Futures Activity

Developments in global Futures activity also provide context for the growth of Futures trading on Bittime. On Bittime Futures, BTCUSDT-PERP recorded higher trading activity than other pairs throughout the week, followed by ARBUSDT-PERP, UNIUSDT-PERP, XRPUSDT-PERP, and ETHUSDT-PERP. 

The dominance of these pairs shows that Futures activity is not concentrated solely on assets with the largest market capitalizations, but also includes other crypto assets with relatively high trading activity on the platform.

“Futures provide flexibility through the choice of long and short positions, but the use of leverage can also amplify risk when market movements go against the position taken. Therefore, traders need to understand margin, leverage, liquidation, and risk management before using Futures products,” Ryan said.

Through Bittime Futures, users can access Futures trading with long and short position options and leverage of up to 25x. Bittime continues to promote understanding of Futures mechanisms and risk management so users can understand the characteristics of the product before conducting transactions.  

The use of leverage can also increase exposure as well as risk. Therefore, Bittime continues to promote understanding of Futures mechanisms and risk management so users can understand the characteristics of the product before conducting transactions