Zcash Reaches a Record High as Bitcoin Holds Near $87,000 and a Reserve Bill Clears Committee

Zcash Reaches a Record High in Asian Trading

Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, climbed roughly 10% during Asian-session trading on September 23, reaching just above $1,616 per coin. That price matches what Fortune called a record high for ZEC, the ticker symbol for Zcash. A year ago, Zcash sat outside the 80 largest cryptocurrencies by market value; research published by Anchorage Digital shows it has since climbed into the top ten.

Privacy coins let senders hide the details that would otherwise appear on a public ledger. Zcash uses a cryptographic method called zero-knowledge proofs, which confirm a transaction happened without revealing amounts or addresses involved. Bitcoin records every transaction openly on its blockchain — a transparent design that makes the bitcoin price verifiable across exchanges without relying on any single company's word.

The 10% single-day move stood out because most large cryptocurrencies barely moved that session. Ether, BNB, and Solana each gained less than 1% over the same 24-hour window. That contrast shows traders were specifically rotating money into Zcash rather than pushing the whole market higher in equal measure. CoinDesk confirmed its figures against multiple price-data sources.

Bitcoin Holds Steady While Other Tokens Rotate

Bitcoin traded near $86,900 during the same Asian session, a gain of roughly 1% over 24 hours. That steadiness matters because bitcoin is the reference point most traders watch before moving into smaller coins. When bitcoin stays calm, investors sometimes shift short-term bets toward altcoins in search of sharper percentage gains — a pattern the crypto markets saw play out on September 23.

XRP climbed about 6% to reach $1.62, while the token HYPE added 4% to settle near $97. Dogecoin also gained 4% over the same window. Tron's TRX was the session's only notable decliner, falling around 1%. CoinDesk's original article reported all these figures, and they align with data from multiple crypto-tracking platforms checked against each other.

Putting bitcoin, XRP, Zcash, and the others in perspective shows how concentrated the gains were. Three of the listed tokens — XRP, HYPE, and Zcash — each outpaced bitcoin by wide margins. When bitcoin stays flat and smaller coins surge, traders call that a rotation: the big coin holds value while people place short-term bets on smaller ones that move more.

Six Straight Days of Falling Oil

Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, ended its sixth consecutive session lower on September 23, settling around $98 to $99 per barrel. Multiple commodities outlets confirmed the streak independently. That makes it the longest run of consecutive daily oil-price declines in over a year — the previous comparable streak dates to August 2025, roughly 13 months earlier, based on commodities market data.

When traders believe inflation is cooling, they often feel more comfortable holding assets that carry risk, like stocks or cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and gold both act partly as inflation hedges, but they also trade like growth assets on days when risk sentiment turns positive. The link between oil's fall and the crypto gains on September 23 is based on timing — the cause-and-effect connection is market interpretation, not a measured fact.

Oil and bitcoin are both priced in U.S. dollars, so a weaker oil environment can push capital toward other assets. The bitcoin macro tool tracks relationships between bitcoin and macro variables like energy prices, interest rates, and currency moves. What happened on September 23 fits a familiar pattern — risk sentiment improved and the crypto market responded — but correlation is not the same as cause and effect.

What the American Reserve Modernization Act Would Do

The American Reserve Modernization Act, or ARMA, was introduced by Rep. Nick Begich, a Republican from Alaska, and co-sponsored by Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine. A summary appeared in Begich's official House press release on May 21, 2026. ARMA would turn the government's existing bitcoin holdings into a permanent strategic reserve, similar to the country's emergency oil or gold stockpiles.

The bill directs three separate actions, each confirmed in both Rep. Begich's press release and The Block's reporting on the markup session. Each provision operates independently and would affect a different part of how the government manages its bitcoin. Understanding them separately makes it easier to see what would change if the bill becomes law and what might stay the same if parts are amended later.

The Block confirmed all three provisions in its coverage of the committee's markup process. For broader context on how the U.S. government compares to private companies as a bitcoin holder, the bitcoin treasuries report tracks significant BTC held by public entities. The bitcoin regulation guide also explains how U.S. agencies treat seized cryptocurrency and why it ends up in government wallets.

• Lock existing government bitcoin for 20 years — no sales allowed during that period
• Require the Treasury Department to publish a publicly audited proof-of-reserve report every quarter
• Direct the Treasury to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring more bitcoin, such as without raising new taxes

A Record for Zcash and a Record for a Bitcoin Bill in Congress

On the same day a privacy coin reached a record high, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee voted 28–21 to advance ARMA — the furthest any bitcoin-reserve bill has traveled in Congress. Prior legislation, including the BITCOIN Act (S.954) and House bill H.R.2112, never reached a committee vote. The 28–21 tally reflects bipartisan backing, with Democratic co-sponsor Rep. Golden helping carry it across the aisle.

One-day discrepancies in media coverage — some outlets cite September 16 for the vote, others September 17 — likely reflect a multi-day markup session where debate ran across both dates. The Block's article and CoinDesk agree on the 28–21 count regardless of the date. The frequently cited figure of approximately 325,000 bitcoin held by the government comes from third-party analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, not a government-published audit, so treat it as an estimate.

A committee vote is one step in a long process. ARMA still needs a full House floor vote, Senate passage, and a presidential signature before it becomes law. But clearing the House Financial Services Committee at 28–21 is a concrete milestone that no comparable bill had previously reached, making September 23 doubly notable in a week when bitcoin held near $87,000.