Bitcoin rises toward $81,000 before Fed decision as Zcash gains 8%

Bitcoin rose almost 2% to just under $81,000 during Wednesday morning trading in Asia, recovering ground after a weekend dip to nearly $79,000. Traders were positioning ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision due later in the day.

Zcash's ZEC was the strongest performer among major tokens, jumping 8% to about $1,320 and moving back above $1,300 after a selloff on Monday. HYPE gained nearly 5% to about $81, while XRP and DOGE each rose roughly 3%. Ether added 2% to just above $2,350 and Solana climbed about 2% to $102. BNB rose 1%, and TRX posted a gain of less than 1%, according to CoinDesk data.

The rebound followed a note from Galaxy telling investors that now is the time to accumulate bitcoin. Alex Thorn, the firm's head of firmwide research, said: "We think the bear market ended in June and that bitcoin is in the accumulation phase that has preceded every prior advance."

Thorn said the market bottom most likely came in June, when bitcoin traded below $58,000. He cited bitcoin's return above its 50-week moving average, a gauge of longer-term trend based on the last 50 weekly closes. He also pointed to lighter selling pressure and rising U.S. debt as supporting factors. The call comes as bitcoin has had difficulty holding the $80,000 level.

Market participants will now watch the press conference of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh for any signal about a possible rate hike in December. Higher rates make borrowing more expensive and tend to draw money away from riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies.