Bitcoin Tops $77,400 as Bank of Japan Hikes Rates and US Congress Advances Landmark Crypto Bills

Bitcoin Holds Firm Against a Hawkish BOJ

Bitcoin climbed above $77,400 on Friday after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, its highest level in roughly three decades. The Policy Board approved the move by a 7-2 vote, citing persistent inflation pressure and continued progress toward its 2% price stability target. The yen weakened modestly following the decision, yet global risk assets — crypto included — absorbed the news calmly rather than selling off.

The reaction stands in contrast to past BOJ tightening cycles, when unwinding yen-funded carry trades has occasionally triggered sharp swings in Bitcoin and other risk assets. This time, traders appeared more focused on crypto-specific catalysts than on the rate decision itself, with the Fear & Greed Index climbing into "Greed" territory as sentiment improved through the week. The move follows the Federal Reserve's own quarter-point hike earlier in the week, which lifted the US federal funds rate to a 3.75%-4.00% range — keeping the policy gap between the two central banks at roughly 2.5 percentage points.

US Spot ETFs Keep Buying the Dip

Underlying demand from American investors has helped cushion the market. US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in roughly $159.5 million in net inflows in the latest session, led by BlackRock's IBIT fund, even as broader trading volumes cooled. That steady institutional appetite has been a key reason Bitcoin has been able to hold above the $77,000 mark for a third consecutive day after Tuesday's sharp 3% drop.

Congress Advances Crypto Legislation After Senate Setback

The market-structure picture in Washington remains more complicated. Earlier in the week, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the CLARITY Act, the comprehensive crypto market-structure bill, in a 49-50 vote — eleven short of the 60 needed to move the legislation forward. The setback effectively stalls the bill's chances of passing this Congress, largely due to unresolved disputes over ethics provisions tied to public officials' crypto holdings rather than the underlying SEC-CFTC oversight framework.

Despite that defeat, two other pieces of crypto legislation are gaining traction in the House. The House Financial Services Committee advanced the American Reserve Modernization Act (H.R. 8957) by a 28-21 vote, which would formally establish a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, require the government to hold reserve Bitcoin for a minimum of 20 years, and mandate regular reporting and independent audits of federal holdings — currently estimated at around 328,000 BTC. Separately, the House Ways and Means Committee approved the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) by a decisive 38-5 vote, a bill that would create the first federal tax framework specifically addressing digital assets, exempt small transaction fees under $10 from taxation, and extend existing wash-sale rules to crypto.

What Comes Next

Both House bills still need to clear a full floor vote, pass the Senate, and receive a presidential signature before becoming law — a process that must happen before the current Congress ends in January. For now, market participants are treating Friday's BOJ decision and the ongoing legislative progress as reinforcing signals: monetary policy tightening on both sides of the Pacific has yet to derail crypto's momentum, while Washington continues to build out a regulatory framework piece by piece, even without a single comprehensive bill in place.