Bitcoin Breaks Above $86,500 as Nasdaq Sets Records and Oil Falls

Bitcoin rose above $86,500 on Tuesday and held above the level that had limited its rally through most of September. Total crypto market capitalization moved above $3 trillion. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index was 79, in greed territory, while the Altcoin Season Index was 49, indicating that Bitcoin still led even as altcoins began to move. The Nasdaq Composite closed at a record on Monday, rising 2.26% for its best day since June. Intel gained 12%, AMD rose about 10% and crossed a $1 trillion market capitalization, and chipmakers extended their rally into Tuesday in their longest winning stretch since April. On Tuesday, the Nasdaq was up 0.4% and reached a fresh intraday high, while the S&P 500 changed little. Brent crude briefly fell below $98 a barrel and WTI fell below $93, their lowest levels since September 8, after reports that Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days if Washington eased pressure. President Donald Trump told the U.N. General Assembly that he expected a deal with Iran right after the election, referring to November's midterm elections. Saudi Arabia was working to restart its East-West pipeline by the weekend. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.75% to 4% on September 16 in a unanimous 12-0 vote. It was the first rate increase since 2023. The Producer Price Index accelerated to 5.4% annually in August, and gasoline accounted for a third of that month's CPI gain. The Fed resumed regular purchases of short-term Treasury bills in December 2025 and has continued them to keep bank reserves ample. Those purchases are described as a technical operation distinct from rate policy, and they absorb Treasury supply while keeping cash flowing to buyers of risk assets. The Fed's bond holdings were near $6.7 trillion, below the $9 trillion peak of 2022 but no longer shrinking. Bitcoin cleared a price zone between $79,673 and $84,144 and was testing a trajectory toward about $90,000. Its 50-day average had crossed above its 200-day average, a pattern widely recognized by traders as bullish and known as a golden cross. Fibonacci extension levels placed potential resistance at $90,763 and $95,074. A failure to hold $79,673 on a pullback would expose $75,436 and then $73,617, described as defended support zones from the summer. On Myriad, a prediction market developed by Decrypt's parent company Dastan, traders priced in 48% odds that Bitcoin would reach $90,000 this month and 25% odds that it would reach $92,500. XRP climbed to $1.57, Solana gained 18.2% over the week, and Zcash rose to $1,551 after gaining 36.7% in seven days. Ninety-seven of the top 100 coins had positive seven-day performance. The Fed's next policy meeting is scheduled for October 27-28, when markets will assess whether September's increase was a one-off response to an oil shock or the first of several planned rate increases this year. The Fed's median 2026 projection puts the federal funds rate at 4.1% by year-end.