Bitcoin Rebounds Toward $79K as Zcash ETF Draws $500M

Bitcoin slipped to around $77,600 on Tuesday before recovering most of the decline, leaving the cryptocurrency nearly flat over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Zcash climbed about 43% over the week as Grayscale’s newly launched exchange-traded fund surpassed $500 million in assets.

Bitcoin fell below the $78,000 mark during Tuesday’s session, reaching $77,666 before buyers pushed it back toward $78,900 by early Wednesday in Asia, according to CoinDesk data.

The rebound left BTC little changed over the previous day and nearly 2% higher for the week. Investor attention, however, shifted toward Zcash after Grayscale announced that its Zcash ETF had surpassed $500 million in assets only two weeks after beginning trading on NYSE Arca.

The fund, which trades under the ticker ZCSH, recorded more than $70 million in cumulative inflows since its Aug. 25 launch. That figure comes in addition to a $100 million investment from DCG International Investments, according to Grayscale.

The ETF now holds more than 550,000 ZEC, representing roughly 3% of Zcash’s 16.9 million circulating supply. The amount has effectively been removed from the available market supply in just two weeks.

ZEC climbed above $1,180 on Tuesday, gaining more than 4%. Its 24-hour trading volume reached approximately $1 billion, while its market capitalization stood near $20 billion. The rally has pushed Zcash into the cryptocurrency market’s top 10 by value over the past week.

Among other major cryptocurrencies, BNB was one of the strongest performers, trading around $755 after gaining nearly 2%. Tron rose more than 1% to approximately 34 cents, while XRP added around 1% to $1.42. Ether remained close to $2,490 and Solana hovered around $103, with both largely unchanged. Dogecoin traded near 9 cents, while Hyperliquid’s HYPE token edged higher toward $86. The total crypto market capitalization was approximately $2.8 trillion.

Outside crypto, Brent crude moved toward $100 per barrel following U.S. strikes on Iranian tankers near Kharg Island and subsequent missile retaliation, along with Houthi attacks targeting Saudi refining infrastructure. Gold traded around $4,407 per ounce, roughly 30% above its level a year earlier.

The developments in energy and precious metals have helped keep Treasury yields elevated, with the 10-year yield near 4.8% and the two-year yield above 4.3%. Traders are currently pricing in roughly a 60% probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike next week, according to CME FedWatch.

Jasper De Maere, an OTC trader at Wintermute, said the crypto market is currently being driven more by interest-rate expectations than by developments specific to digital assets.

He expects volatility to increase toward the end of the week as traders receive the final economic indicators ahead of the Fed’s decision. According to De Maere, $75,000 and $82,000 remain important Bitcoin levels heading into the Sept. 15-16 FOMC meeting.

Thursday’s producer price index and Friday’s consumer price index will be the final major economic data points before the meeting, with core CPI expected to ease to 2.4%.

Bitfinex analysts also identified ETF flows as a key indicator for the market this week. They said the important question is whether ETF inflows remain positive through the Sept. 9 Treasury buyback and the Sept. 11 CPI release, even with the two-year Treasury yield holding above 4.34%.

If investors continue buying crypto while short-term Treasury yields remain elevated, the analysts said, it could indicate that markets are becoming less constrained by expectations surrounding the Federal Reserve’s policy rate.

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