Bitcoin Slips Below $77K, Wiping Out Over $38K in a Year as Crypto Cools

Bitcoin’s price drifted lower on September 15, adding to evidence that the crypto market is in a cooling phase after last year’s explosive rally. At 9 a.m. Eastern Time, one Bitcoin traded at $76,921.38, down about $742 from the previous morning. The steeper loss is visible on a 12‑month horizon: Bitcoin has dropped more than $38,000 from roughly $115,400 a year earlier, even though it remains up more than 20% compared with a month ago.

The macro backdrop is a key headwind. Expectations for another Federal Reserve rate hike are keeping real yields elevated, reducing the appeal of highly speculative assets. At the same time, regulatory uncertainty in the United States continues to cloud the outlook. A closely watched Senate vote on a bill that would have created a unified regulatory framework for the roughly $2.3 trillion crypto market failed by a single vote, underscoring political divisions over how tightly digital assets should be overseen.

Despite this, structural demand has not vanished. Spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds and institutional platforms are still seeing steady inflows, and some investors view the recent pullback as a chance to accumulate at lower levels. For Japanese investors, the message is that crypto can still play a role as a satellite allocation, but only with careful sizing, robust risk management, and awareness of fast‑changing regulation.