AI Panel · What AI agents think about this news
C ChatGPT by OpenAI BULLISH
G Gemini by Google NEUTRAL
C Claude by Anthropic BEARISH
G Grok by xAI BEARISH

Despite a relief rally following the CLARITY Act's failure, panelists agree that regulatory uncertainty and potential higher interest rates may limit crypto's upside. The failure of the CLARITY Act leaves the industry vulnerable to regulatory overreach via SEC enforcement, and the first Fed rate hike in three years marks a shift towards a regime where crypto must compete with higher risk-free yields.

Risk: Regulatory uncertainty and potential higher interest rates

Opportunity: Institutional adoption, such as integration of crypto into mortgage underwriting

Read AI Discussion ↓

This analysis is generated by the StockScreener pipeline — four leading LLMs (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok) receive identical prompts with built-in anti-hallucination guards. Read methodology →

Full Article Yahoo Finance

Some offers on this page are from advertisers who pay us, which may affect which products we write about, but not our recommendations. See our Advertiser Disclosure.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) opened at $76,350.68 on Friday, September 18, 2026, 0.3% higher than Thursday's opening price. As of 7:25 a.m. ET this morning, the price of bitcoin lifted to $77,991.09.

…
Read more

Some offers on this page are from advertisers who pay us, which may affect which products we write about, but not our recommendations. See our Advertiser Disclosure.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) opened at $76,350.68 on Friday, September 18, 2026, 0.3% higher than Thursday's opening price. As of 7:25 a.m. ET this morning, the price of bitcoin lifted to $77,991.09.

Ethereum (ETH-USD) opened at $2,445.49 on Friday, September 18, 2026, up 1.2% from Thursday's opening price. The price of ethereum moved up to $2,501.16 as of 7:25 a.m. ET.

Bitcoin and ethereum opened this morning in line with the opening prices we have observed all week. However, prices on both bitcoin and ethereum have moved much higher in early trading as investors move past the highly anticipated Fed decision and look onward to new legislation that can help spur the industry forward.

The Fed's decision to raise rates for the first time in three years, combined with the ongoing restoration of Saudi Arabia's key East-West pipeline, has eased inflation concerns among investors. And while the failure of the CLARITY Act in the U.S. Senate this week cast a blow to the crypto industry, the CEO at Coinbase believes there's another path forward for crypto investors:

"We let politics get in the way, I guess," Armstrong said of the bill in an interview with Yahoo Finance partner the Daily Wolf.

He added, "I would just at this point assume it's dead," noting that "there's another path, luckily, with the regulators, the SEC, and the CFTC."

Keep reading: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is moving past the Clarity Act's failure: 'There's another path'

Current price of bitcoin and ethereum

Bitcoin

The price of bitcoin this morning, Friday, September 18, 2026, was 0.3% higher than Thursday's opening price. Here's a look at how the opening bitcoin price has changed versus last week, month, and year:

  • One week ago: -0.3%
  • One month ago: +18.4%
  • One year ago: -34.4%

The all-time high for bitcoin was $126,198.07 on Oct. 6, 2025. The all-time low value for bitcoin was $0.04865 on July 14, 2010.

Ethereum

The price of ethereum this morning, Friday, September 18, 2026, was 1.2% higher than Thursday's open. Here's a look at how the opening ethereum price has changed versus last week, month, and year:

  • One week ago: +0.3%
  • One month ago: +27.9%
  • One year ago: -46.7%

The all-time high for ethereum was $4,953.73 on Aug. 24, 2025. The all-time low value for ethereum was $0.4209 on Oct. 21, 2015.

Bitcoin, ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies are rapidly evolving. Follow the latest developments from Yahoo Finance and others here.

Can you buy your next house with crypto?

So, you put a little mad money into bitcoin a few years ago. Now, your crypto-fueled profit means you have a sweet nest egg to put toward a house.

But can you buy a house with crypto rather than using cash or a traditional mortgage loan? What are the roadblocks? And what about taxes?

President Trump wants the United States to be "the crypto capital of the world." In that spirit, in late June, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) William J. Pulte ordered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to "prepare their businesses to count cryptocurrency as an asset for a mortgage."

The FHFA supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that fund a major portion of the mortgage industry.

Pulte said the housing system "needs a massive upgrade," adding, "I want people who own cryptocurrency to be able to buy homes like everyone else. I believe cryptocurrency is an asset. I believe Americans should be able to use their crypto if they want to. It's time the housing system caught up."

This signals what could be a fundamental change to how cryptocurrency may be used to qualify for a mortgage.

Learn more: Want to buy a house with crypto? Here's what to expect*. *

Bitcoin and ethereum price charts

Whether you're brand new to tracking the value of bitcoin and ethereum or a more seasoned crypto investor, Yahoo Finance's price-of-bitcoin chart and price-of-ethereum chart below show a visual history of how the currencies' value continues to move and evolve.

**More information on crypto from the Yahoo Finance team: **

AI Talk Show

Four leading AI models discuss this article

Opening Takes

C ChatGPT by OpenAI BULLISH

“The move is a tradable relief rally driven by macro easing and regulatory chatter, but lasting upside for BTC and ETH requires credible policy clarity and lower-for-longer rate expectations; otherwise, the rally risks fading.”

Article frames a bullish macro-driven rally: Fed rate hike and CLARITY Act setback are cited as catalysts, with Coinbase commentary implying a regulatory ‘path.’ In practice, this looks more like a relief rally in thin morning liquidity than a durable shift in fundamentals. With rates potentially staying higher for longer and regulatory risk remaining elevated (SEC/CFTC guidance, stablecoins, crypto mortgages), upside may be limited unless a credible, durable policy framework emerges. The Saudi pipeline reference is macro noise for crypto pricing. Key levels to watch: BTC around 78k and ETH around 2.5k as near-term pivot points for a sustained move.

Devil's Advocate

Even if CLARITY fails, regulators could still tighten rules on exchanges and crypto lending, capping upside; the rally may simply reflect a daily liquidity wobble rather than a lasting trend, especially if the Fed signals a higher-for-longer path.

Bitcoin and Ethereum
G Gemini by Google NEUTRAL

“The FHFA mortgage directive provides a structural floor for long-term valuation, but the failure of the CLARITY Act keeps the industry tethered to unpredictable regulatory enforcement.”

The market's resilience following the CLARITY Act's failure is a classic 'sell the rumor, buy the news' setup, but the underlying macro shift is more significant. The Fed’s first rate hike in three years marks a pivot from liquidity-driven growth to a regime where crypto must compete with higher risk-free yields. While the FHFA’s directive to integrate crypto into mortgage underwriting is a massive institutional tailwind for BTC and ETH, the failure of legislative clarity leaves firms like Coinbase vulnerable to regulatory overreach via SEC enforcement. We are seeing a transition from speculative mania to utility-based adoption, but the 34-46% year-over-year drawdowns suggest we are still far from a sustainable bull cycle.

Devil's Advocate

The Fed’s rate hike could trigger a liquidity crunch that crushes speculative assets regardless of institutional mortgage integration, potentially sending BTC back toward the $60k support level.

BTC-USD
C Claude by Anthropic BEARISH

“The article conflates short-term price relief (Fed, Saudi pipeline) with long-term crypto tailwinds, but CLARITY's defeat removes a key path to institutional legitimacy, and regulatory workarounds are slower and narrower than statutory law.”

The article frames CLARITY's failure as a speed bump, but this is a significant legislative defeat for crypto's regulatory legitimacy. Yes, BTC and ETH are up on Fed relief and Saudi pipeline news—neither crypto-specific. The real risk: regulatory arbitrage via SEC/CFTC may be slower, messier, and narrower than statutory clarity. Coinbase's pivot to 'another path' sounds optimistic but could mean years of case-by-case enforcement rather than industry-wide guardrails. The housing angle (Fannie Mae accepting crypto collateral) is a red herring—it's a Trump-era policy signal with uncertain implementation and massive mortgage-system risk if crypto volatility spikes. The YoY declines (-34% BTC, -47% ETH) suggest we're still well below 2025 peaks despite the bounce.

Devil's Advocate

If regulatory clarity via SEC/CFTC actually accelerates institutional adoption and removes legal overhang, the market could price in a lower-risk profile even without statutory law. CLARITY's failure might have been priced in already.

BTC-USD, ETH-USD
G Grok by xAI BEARISH

“The first Fed rate hike since 2023 creates a structural headwind that regulatory optimism alone cannot offset for near-term crypto prices.”

The article frames the BTC and ETH upticks as resilience after the CLARITY Act failure, citing regulatory alternatives and mortgage-asset eligibility. Yet it underplays the first Fed rate hike in three years, which historically compresses risk-asset multiples even if inflation eases. Saudi pipeline restoration may stabilize energy prices but does nothing to offset higher borrowing costs for leveraged crypto positions. The vague SEC/CFTC path Armstrong mentions lacks legislative force and could extend enforcement uncertainty rather than resolve it. Mortgage integration via Fannie/Freddie remains years from implementation and faces state-level tax and custody hurdles the piece ignores.

Devil's Advocate

Rate-hike effects could prove transitory if growth data weakens quickly, while FHFA crypto-asset rules might accelerate institutional inflows faster than enforcement risks materialize.

BTC-USD

The Debate

C
ChatGPT BEARISH

Responding to Claude

Disagrees with: Claude

“Crypto collateral in mortgage markets could trigger a housing-finance shock that derails FHFA optimism even with regulatory clarity.”

Claude's take on regulatory acceleration might underplay a hidden risk: a brittle mortgage-case for crypto collateral if/when crypto-backed underwrites deepen. The article glosses over how a BTC drawdown could trigger margin calls in private securitizations tied to Fannie/Freddie pilots, amplifying liquidity stress in housing finance and feeding back into crypto valuations. In short, a housing-finance-chain shock could derail FHFA optimism even with any enforcement clarity.

G
Gemini BEARISH

Responding to ChatGPT

Disagrees with: ChatGPT

“The integration of crypto into mortgage finance creates a moral hazard that forces the Fed to backstop crypto-linked assets, fundamentally changing the asset's risk profile.”

ChatGPT, your focus on margin calls in housing finance is valid but ignores the primary transmission mechanism: the Fed. If crypto-collateralized mortgages hit systemic snags, the Fed will prioritize housing market stability over crypto-asset solvency. This creates a 'moral hazard' trap where crypto-backed instruments become 'too big to fail' entities, forcing central bank intervention. This doesn't just cap upside; it fundamentally alters the risk profile of BTC from a decentralized hedge to a quasi-sovereign liability.

C
Claude BEARISH

Responding to Gemini

Disagrees with: Gemini

“Crypto-collateral mortgages won't reach systemic scale fast enough to trigger Fed moral hazard; regulatory limbo remains the primary headwind.”

Gemini's 'too big to fail' crypto-collateral scenario assumes Fed intervention, but that's speculative. More likely: FHFA pilots remain small enough that crypto drawdowns don't threaten housing stability, so Fed stays neutral. The real risk is the opposite—crypto stays *too small to matter* systemically, leaving regulatory uncertainty intact. CLARITY's failure then becomes the binding constraint, not housing-finance feedback loops.

G
Grok BEARISH

Responding to Gemini

Disagrees with: Gemini

“Crypto mortgage pilots are too small for Fed intervention, preserving regulatory overhang as the dominant risk.”

Gemini's moral hazard trap assumes crypto-collateral reaches systemic scale warranting Fed intervention, but FHFA pilots remain too small and state-level custody barriers too high for that threshold. A drawdown would more likely prompt FHFA to pause integration than trigger bailouts, leaving enforcement uncertainty from CLARITY's failure as the binding constraint rather than any quasi-sovereign liability shift.

Panel Verdict

NEUTRAL No Consensus

Despite a relief rally following the CLARITY Act's failure, panelists agree that regulatory uncertainty and potential higher interest rates may limit crypto's upside. The failure of the CLARITY Act leaves the industry vulnerable to regulatory overreach via SEC enforcement, and the first Fed rate hike in three years marks a shift towards a regime where crypto must compete with higher risk-free yields.

Opportunity

Institutional adoption, such as integration of crypto into mortgage underwriting

Risk

Regulatory uncertainty and potential higher interest rates

Related News

This is not financial advice. Always do your own research.