Bitcoin Rebounds Above $78,000 as DeFi and Layer-2 Tokens Lead Post-Fed Recovery

Bitcoin tops $78,000

Bitcoin climbed back above $78,000 as a wave of buying in decentralized finance and layer-2 tokens signaled traders were moving past the inflation scare triggered by the Federal Reserve's first rate increase in three years. CoinDesk said the post-Fed hike bid extended into Friday with DeFi and layer-2 tokens taking over from privacy and haven assets that led Thursday’s gains, while the DeFi Select Index surged by 8.3% since midnight and 16% over the past 24 hours. The same CoinDesk coverage tied the move to a softer macro backdrop, saying the 10-year Treasury yield slipped back under 5% and Brent crude eased below $103 after trading as high as $109 earlier in the week.

BigGo Finance added that the rebound came as the 10-year Treasury yield slipped back under 5% and Brent crude retreated below $103 a barrel, easing concerns that the central bank's hawkish turn would force a prolonged sell-off across risk assets. BigGo Finance also reported that the Fed raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75% to 4.00% on Wednesday, the first increase in about three years, and that Chair Kevin Warsh reiterated that curbing inflation remains the central bank's top priority.

Reporting for this sectionCoinDeskBigGo Finance

Rotation and derivatives

CoinDesk said the rotation into DeFi and layer-2 tokens demonstrated a return to risk-on trading, with Bitcoin’s move happening while “all but two CoinDesk 100 constituents were higher on the day” and the focus on the DeFi Select Index.

BigGo Finance reported that futures data pointed to structural buying, with open interest in Bitcoin futures ticking up to 680,000 BTC from 670,000 BTC since midnight UTC and cumulative open interest across crypto futures expanding nearly 5% to $141.2 billion even as daily trading volume dipped 3% to $95 billion.

CoinDesk also described Binance trader ratios, saying the top trader long-short accounts ratio pulled back to 1.52 while the long-short positions ratio remained elevated at 2.36, implying fewer large holders leaning long but larger bet sizes.

BigGo Finance framed the regulatory backdrop around the U.S. Senate failing to advance the CLARITY Act, with the procedural vote ending 49-50 and leaving the measure 11 votes short of the 60 needed to open debate.

In trader commentary, BigGo Finance quoted Lennaert Snyder saying, "I'm looking to scalp-long towards the 77.3K POC first, reclaiming that is the next bullish trigger that opens the door to my next targets up to the extremes at 78.5K," as analysts watched the $77,300 level.

Reporting for this sectionCoinDeskBigGo Finance

Breadth, Solana, and risk

KuCoin said crypto market breadth surged to 89 advancers in QC 100, with the index up 3.68% and all ten tracked sectors green, led by memes at plus 6.13% and DeFi at plus 3.59%. KuCoin reported that Bitcoin gained just 1.05% and remained down 2.03% on the week, while total crypto market capitalization sat at $2.60 trillion on $128.77 billion of daily volume and Bitcoin dominance was 58.34% with Ethereum at 11.31%. CoinMarketCap attributed Solana’s 3.68 percentage point surge within a 10-hour window to a network speed upgrade implemented on 18 Sep 2026 that reduced slot times from 300 ms to 250 ms and increased block frequency by 17 percent.

CoinMarketCap added that Nasdaq-listed DeFi Development Corp expanded its SOL treasury to 2.39 million SOL (about $253 million) and set up a $300 million at-the-market stock facility primarily to fund further SOL purchases, while coverage also cited more than 40 million SOL traded around $100. KuCoin also highlighted specific altcoin leadership and context, saying Uniswap and Zcash were continuations rather than new stories, with UNI rising 10.42% to $6.9145 and ZEC gaining 16.55% to $1,373.30.

Reporting for this sectionKuCoinCoinMarketCap