The crypto market shifted sharply higher on September 18, 2026, as Bitcoin staged a powerful rebound above the key $80,000 level, triggering a wave of short liquidations and pulling a broad basket of altcoins higher.
According to market data, Bitcoin rose 4.7% over 24 hours to trade above $80,600 on Binance. The move caught many leveraged short sellers off guard: $198 million in leveraged positions were liquidated in one hour, with roughly $190 million of that total coming from shorts.
Major altcoins followed Bitcoin’s advance. Ethereum climbed 4% above $2,550, Solana rose 7.8% above $108, and XRP added 4.5% to trade above $1.30.
The strongest relative momentum came from a new group of altcoin winners. Arbitrum led the top performers with a 29% surge, followed by NEAR Protocol at 26%, Uniswap at 20%, and Aptos at 18%. Jupiter, Worldcoin, and Ether.fi also booked double-digit gains of 15.5%, 15.2%, and 15%, respectively.
The rotation came as investor sentiment improved following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s announcement of a “novelty waiver” plan that would temporarily allow tokenized stock trading for the next five years. Analysts said the development could boost demand for blockchain infrastructure if tokenized equities gain adoption. Influencer Ran Neuner also noted that not all altcoins would benefit equally, urging traders to watch whale accumulation patterns and emerging narratives closely.
