The August’s market rally extended into September, with Bitcoin rising from approximately US$78,116 (A$109,001) at the start of the month to approximately US$83,881 (A120,570) at month-end, a gain of 7% in USD terms and 11% in AUD terms. The Federal Reserve raised its target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00% at its September meeting with annual U.S. consumer price index (CPI) inflation reaching 3.4% in August. Domestically, the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.60%, the highest level since late 2011, with CPI rising 4.0% over the year to August, up from 3.5% in July.
September delivered significant progress across the key global regulatory jurisdictions. In Australia, businesses using ASIC’s no-action position for digital assets had until 30 September 2026 to apply for, or vary, an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence, with ASIC receiving over 45 applications since INFO 225 was updated in October 2025. In the U.K., the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its final cryptoasset perimeter guidance on 16 September and opened its authorisation window on 30 September, ahead of the regime commencing on 25 October 2027. In the U.S, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed to secure the 60 votes required to advance in the Senate on 15 September. Following the vote, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) signalled that they would continue to advance digital asset rulemaking under their existing statutory authority. SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated that the agency would act ‘with or without legislation’, while the SEC subsequently granted a five-year conditional exemption permitting certain tokenised securities to trade on blockchain-based venues.
Institutional activity continued to centre on stablecoins and custody. In September, a group of 21 financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citi and Deutsche Bank announced plans to jointly issue a U.S. dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027, with stablecoins pegged to other G7 currencies to follow. Citi and Coinbase expanded their partnership to allow Citi’s business clients to receive stablecoin payments settled in fiat currency, launching first in the United States. The European Central Bank (ECB) launched Pontes, a wholesale platform connecting distributed ledger technology platforms to the Eurosystem’s TARGET Services so that eligible financial institutions can settle tokenised bonds, funds and other assets in central bank money. Deutsche Bank announced plans for an institutional custody service for Bitcoin, Ether and selected stablecoins, subject to regulatory approval.
Among treasury companies, Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) acquired a total of 2,615 BTC in September, increasing its holding to 847,666 BTC as at the end of the month. Its market-to-net-asset-value multiple (mNAV) reached 1.17x around 21 September, its highest since June. Strategy doubled its Digital Credit Securities Repurchase Program authorisation to US$2 billion on 8 September. In Japan, Metaplanet held 44,000 BTC as at 30 September after a net purchase of 1,000 BTC during the third quarter, making it the second-largest public Bitcoin treasury company globally. In Australia, DigitalX (ASX: DCC) continued executing its on-market share buy-back throughout September.
On the state and sovereign Bitcoin policy front, the US House Financial Services Committee voted 28–21 on 16 September to advance the American Reserve Modernization Act, which would establish a Treasury-custodied Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under U.S. Treasury custody, with a minimum 20-year holding period.
September delivered Bitcoin a second consecutive monthly gain despite a tightening of US monetary policy. Regulatory and institutional developments also continued, including progress for trading tokenised equities trading infrastructure and plans by major financial institutions to jointly issue a U.S. dollar stablecoin.
pto Summit on 19 August gathered industry leaders and key officials to advance discussions around clearer digital asset policy. Concurrently, the US SEC introduced Regulation Crypto Assets, setting out registration exemptions for digital token issuances of up to US$75 million within a 12-month period, together with a defined safe harbour from investment contract treatment. The US Treasury also published proposed rules under the GENIUS Act regarding payment stablecoins, targeting full compliance by 18 July 2028. Meanwhile, the Senate initiated procedural steps for the Clarity Act prior to recess, scheduling a key vote for 15 September, though analysts at Galaxy Research revised their estimated probability of enactment this year down to 30% from 50%.
Institutional activity centred on custody and product acquisition. BNY announced that it would add staking to its digital asset custody platform with Galaxy Digital. Goldman Sachs acquired NEOS Investments for up to US$2.25 billion, including its Bitcoin covered-call ETF platform. Citi confirmed that it expected to launch institutional Bitcoin custody later in 2026 through a combined digital and traditional custody platform. In Hong Kong, MicroBit listed the first ETF combining Bitcoin and gold exposure on HKEX on 26 August.
Among treasury companies, Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) sold 3,328 BTC in early August to fund preferred stock dividends and STRC repurchases, before buying 4,603 BTC at the end of the month, its first purchase in ten weeks. The company held a total of 845,050 BTC as at 31 August. In Australia, DigitalX (ASX: DCC) continued executing its on-market share buy-back throughout August. In Japan, Metaplanet committed 2,100 BTC and US$2.5 million to take a roughly 96% stake in Nasdaq listed Super League Enterprise as part of its strategy to establish a US-listed Bitcoin treasury vehicle. CryptoQuant reported that wallets holding more than 100 BTC accumulated approximately 60,000 BTC over the month.
On the sovereign institutional Bitcoin exposure front, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council disclosed combined holdings of 22.9 million iShares Bitcoin Trust units worth approximately US$764 million in quarterly filings lodged in August.
August delivered Bitcoin its strongest monthly gain of the year. The rebound coincided with continued progress across regulation, institutional custody and digital asset market infrastructure. Entering September, sentiment has improved while the regulatory and institutional foundations of the asset class continue to deepen.
