Bitcoin Breaks $80,000 as Crypto Stocks Rally, Nvidia Points to AI Chip Boom, and Treasury Yields Hit 5%
Key Takeaways
- •Bitcoin climbed approximately 5.5% over 24 hours to trade near $80,940, even as the Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points to a target range of 3.75% to 4.00% in a widely anticipated move.
- •Crypto-related stocks rebounded quickly from earlier rate-driven losses, with Strategy gaining about 12%, Coinbase rising roughly 10%, and Robinhood advancing around 8%.
- •The Senate's failure to advance the Clarity Act leaves the jurisdictional split between the SEC and CFTC unresolved, and both agencies are expected to shape digital asset policy through their existing authority.
- •Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang the company could sell roughly twice as many chips in 2027 as in 2026, with estimates citing about 5.09 million AI GPUs next year and a revenue opportunity of at least $1 trillion through 2027.
- •The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield returned to around 5% on Friday, pressuring equity valuations as nine of the S&P 500's 11 sectors declined, with growth stocks hit hardest by the higher discount rates.
Bitcoin pushed back above $80,000 this week, anchoring a broad rally in crypto-linked equities even as the Federal Reserve delivered another interest rate increase and the Senate failed to advance a major digital asset bill. Elsewhere in markets, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pointed to surging demand for AI chips, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed back to the 5% mark and dragged most S&P 500 sectors lower. Here is a closer look at the developments that shaped markets this week.
Bitcoin and Crypto Stocks Surge
Bitcoin climbed roughly 5.5% over 24 hours to trade around $80,940. The advance came despite the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by 25 basis points — 0.25 percentage points — to a target range of 3.75% to 4.00%, and despite the Senate's failure to pass a key piece of crypto legislation.
Because the rate increase had been widely expected, the negative market reaction was contained. Financial markets tend to price in anticipated policy moves ahead of time, which is why announcements that match expectations often produce smaller moves than the run-up to them. Bitcoin's gains also lifted the broader crypto market, with investors rotating back into digital assets.
Crypto-related stocks followed suit after selling off earlier in the week on rate fears and the legislative setback, making the reversal swift. Strategy rose approximately 12%, Coinbase gained about 10%, and Robinhood advanced roughly 8%. Strategy, which holds a large amount of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, is especially sensitive to moves in the cryptocurrency's price, while Coinbase benefits directly when trading volumes pick up.
Crypto Regulation Shifts to the SEC and CFTC
The Senate failed this week to advance the Clarity Act, a bill designed to create a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets by spelling out the respective responsibilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the two primary U.S. market regulators. With the bill stalled, the jurisdictional overlap between the two agencies it was meant to settle remains unresolved.
The bill's failure does not mean regulatory momentum has stalled. Industry participants told CoinDesk that they expect both agencies to continue setting rules even without new legislation passed by Congress. For now, the crypto industry remains without a comprehensive legal framework, and regulators are expected to fill the gap through their existing authority. How the SEC and CFTC choose to use that authority is now the main channel through which U.S. digital asset policy will take shape.
Nvidia CEO Points to Doubling Chip Sales by 2027
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company could sell approximately twice as many chips in 2027 as it will in 2026.
Estimates cited by Barron's suggest Nvidia could sell around 5.09 million AI GPUs in 2026, along with tens of thousands of complete AI server racks. Growth is expected to come from the company's next-generation Vera Rubin architecture, as well as CPUs, networking products, and other AI infrastructure. Because Nvidia's chips and server racks are the building blocks of AI data centers, its sales figures serve as one of the clearest gauges of how much capital the AI buildout is absorbing.
Earlier this year, Nvidia said the revenue opportunity for its AI chips could reach at least $1 trillion through 2027, reflecting the enormous scale of capital flowing into AI computing.
Treasury Yields at 5% Pressure Stocks
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield returned to around 5% on Friday, restoring a level at which bonds compete more directly with stocks for investor capital and pushing equity valuations lower. Nine of the S&P 500's 11 sectors declined during the session.
The 10-year yield matters well beyond the bond market: it serves as a benchmark for borrowing costs across the economy, influencing rates on everything from mortgages to corporate debt.
Markets were also digesting quarterly triple witching, the simultaneous expiration of stock options, index options, and futures contracts, an event that can add to trading volatility.
Higher yields hit growth stocks hardest because they raise the rate used to discount future earnings, reducing what those earnings are worth in today's terms.
