Bitcoin climbed above $80,600 on September 18, surging 5.49% from its daily low of $75,560 to reach an intraday high of $81,258. According to data from crypto.news, the cryptocurrency had previously traded between $75,971.64 and $77,623.53 during the period, with CoinGecko showing Bitcoin at $77,409.41, up 1.4% over 24 hours. The latest surge came after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, marking its highest level in roughly 31 years. The hike was the second rate increase in three months and pushed Japanese borrowing costs to their highest level since 1995, with the Policy Board approving the increase from 1.0% by a 7–2 vote as officials responded to inflation risks.
Bitcoin's technical indicators have turned decidedly bullish following the recent rally. The daily relative strength index rose to 62.93, above its moving average of 57.38, with an RSI above 50 showing that upward momentum has strengthened. According to the latest analysis, Bitcoin has moved above all four moving averages displayed on the daily chart, with the 20-day SMA at $78,150, 50-day SMA at $72,498, and 200-day and 100-day averages near $70,432 and $67,976 respectively. The 4-hour Aroon Up reached 100%, while the Supertrend flipped bullish, with trend support now placed near $77,828. A 4-hour close above the previous bearish Supertrend line around $78,597 strengthens the breakout structure, while the Aroon Down fell to 14.29%, indicating that the period's most recent high occurred much later than its latest low.
CoinGlass' 24-hour Bitcoin liquidation heatmap reveals several leveraged position clusters that could shape Bitcoin's next move. The nearest large concentrations appear around $81,500 and $82,000, with additional liquidity extending toward $84,000. Leveraged short positions face forced closure when Bitcoin rises into these zones, creating market buy orders that may add momentum if price breaks above $81,500 with sufficient volume. The heatmap also shows liquidity below the market around $80,000 and $79,300, with larger bands visible between roughly $76,000 and $77,500. Analyst Batman noted that Bitcoin had broken out of a descending-channel formation similar to an earlier setup that preceded a 24% gain, though he cautioned that confirmation still depends on whether the price can hold above the channel and clear the nearby $82,000 resistance.
Despite the higher Japanese policy rate, the yen weakened following the decision, with USD/JPY rising from around 156.20 before the announcement to approximately 156.70 afterward. As reported by Reuters, the yen fell as much as 0.8% to 157.145 against the dollar after the decision, with the currency failing to strengthen after a rate decision that had already been widely expected. The move followed an overnight decline toward $76,200, with BTC recovering to roughly $77,400 after the BOJ decision, while BTC/JPY on Tokyo-based bitFlyer rose around 0.5% to 12.06 million yen. The yen weakness occurred despite the tighter monetary policy, as markets reacted calmly without triggering major selling in global assets linked to yen carry trades.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $159.5 million in net inflows on September 17, reversing two consecutive trading sessions of withdrawals, according to SoSoValue data. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust led the inflows with $183.7 million, while Fidelity's FBTC posted $16.6 million in outflows and VanEck's HODL lost $7.6 million. The result means IBIT was the only fund with positive net flows in the September 17 dataset, with BlackRock's product remaining the largest U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF by holdings, holding approximately 784,526 BTC as of September 17. The ETF inflows helped support the market ahead of the BOJ decision, with Bitcoin remaining above $77,000 despite tighter monetary policy from both central banks.
