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Bitcoin Holds $77k as Rate Pressure Meets Diversification Case

Bitcoin traded near $77,200 on Sunday as macro headwinds persisted, while Ripple's RLUSD surged 50% in a month and Bitcoin Suisse outlined portfolio-return data favoring BTC allocations.

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Marcus Webb · Crypto Desk · 18 Sept 2026 · 14:41 · 2 min read
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Bitcoin Holds $77k as Rate Pressure Meets Diversification Case

Bitcoin trading near $77,200 on Sunday, slipping roughly 0.03% to $77,245.30 in electronic trading as of 19:41 ET, following a Saturday close near $77,300. Ether rose 0.34% to $2,525, XRP gained 0.81% to $1.3674, and BNB edged 0.10% higher to $727.43. Solana fell 0.66% to $101.79, while Cardano advanced 0.48% to $0.2073.

Meme coins posted wider moves, with TRUMP rising 10% and Shiba Inu climbing 2.12%. Dogecoin gained 0.63%.

The cryptocurrency’s lackluster advance came as investors weighed the tension between persistent rate-pressure concerns and arguments for digital-asset diversification. Bitcoin Suisse, in its Crypto Wealth Management Report 2026, noted that major U.S. hyperscalers are projected to spend more than $800 billion on artificial-intelligence infrastructure this year and over $1 trillion in 2027, underscoring the scale of capital flowing into a sector that increasingly competes for power and hardware resources alongside crypto miners.

Bitcoin

BTCUSD
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81038.7400▲ 5.69%
As of 18/09/2026, 16:20:58

The report also quantified the portfolio-case for bitcoin. According to Bitcoin Suisse’s traditional portfolio-return modelling, an annualized return of 6.2% on a conventional portfolio rises to 7.2% with a 1% bitcoin allocation funded from bonds, and climbs further to 8.6% with a 2.5% weighting. The firm framed these figures against a backdrop of U.S. federal debt that has now crossed $40 trillion, arguing that modest bitcoin exposure could serve as a hedge in a macro environment defined by elevated sovereign borrowing.

In stablecoin markets, Ripple’s RLUSD saw its circulating supply climb to approximately $2.4 billion, up more than 50% over the past month. Daily transaction activity reached roughly $750 million last month, up from about $200 million at the start of 2026. Ripple’s Treasury division reported around 1,200 corporate customers handling approximately $13 trillion in transactions annually.

Meanwhile, Revolut disclosed that customer data — including identity documents, residential addresses, and full transaction histories encompassing bitcoin activity — was exposed following a fraudulent government request. The digital bank said customer funds were not affected.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited by a Finance Review Daily journalist.
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Written by
Marcus Webb
Crypto Desk

Marcus reports on digital assets, from spot ETF flows to protocol-level developments in DeFi. He pays particular attention to how institutional adoption is reshaping crypto market structure.

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