Crypto, Stocks Rally Post-Rate Hike; Zcash Hits All-Time High

Crypto and equity markets both firmed in the hours after the Federal Reserve's Wednesday rate decision and across Thursday, with traders reading the central bank's quarter-point hike and accompanying guidance as roughly in line with expectations rather than a fresh source of tightening risk. Bitcoin traded at $76,642, up modestly over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko, while total crypto market capitalization rose 1.6% to $2.63 trillion.

The rally was broad rather than concentrated in Bitcoin. Of the 100 constituents in the CoinDesk 100 index, 94 advanced over 24 hours, and the small-cap-heavy CoinDesk 80 index gained 4.7% against just 1.2% for the Bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5.

Zcash was the standout, around 30% to a record past $1,485 after Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang disclosed the investment firm holds ZEC, calling it "a private complement to Bitcoin," a disclosure that coincided with a governance vote to shorten the network's block times while preserving its Bitcoin-style halving schedule.

US equity futures also rose on the decision, with Nasdaq 100 futures gaining 1.04% and S&P 500 futures adding 0.81%, alongside a 0.17% dip in the dollar index and gains in gold and silver, as markets read the Fed's updated projections, a median of one additional quarter-point hike this year, as consistent with a measured pace rather than an accelerating one.