Bitcoin loses touch with the Dollar Index, U.S. stocks ahead of the Fed
Your day-ahead look for Sept. 16, 2026
CoinMarketCap data show bitcoin’s short-window correlation with the index, which measures the U.S. currency’s strength against a basket of peers, has collapsed to nearly zero, while its positive link to equities has also faded.
“Bitcoin’s short-window [15-day or less] correlation to the dollar index sits at +0.08, versus -0.54 over the past 30 days. Its correlation to the S&P 500 has fallen to 0.43 from 0.75 yesterday, to the Nasdaq to 0.30 from 0.60 yesterday, and to gold to 0.28 from 0.69 over 30 days,” CoinMarketCap’s head of research, Alice Liu, said in a note shared with CoinDesk.
The disconnect is explained by the recent focus on the Clarity Act regulation, which failed a key Senate procedural vote on Tuesday, pulling traders’ attention away from the usual influences in the wider economy.
Unless Chair Kevin Warsh delivers a larger increase or unexpectedly hawkish guidance, some observers say the Dollar Index could slide. A weaker dollar would, in isolation, be a tailwind for bitcoin.