Bitcoin held near $78,900 on Wednesday after opening 0.8% below Tuesday's price as fresh U.S.-Iran attacks weighed on risk assets. A bearish RSI divergence and a surging Japanese yen are adding pressure heading into the Federal Reserve's rate decision and the Bank of Japan's September 17-18 meeting.
Bitcoin opened at $78,446.18 on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, 0.8% lower than Tuesday's opening price, before climbing to $78,824.54 by 7:11 a.m. ET. Attacks from both the U.S. and Iran a day earlier had already sent opening bitcoin and ethereum prices to their lowest levels so far this week.
The pressure comes as oil trades near $100 a barrel and traders build in a 25-basis-point Fed rate increase, with the central bank's two-day meeting concluding in one week. If the fighting continues and the Fed raises rates, that is likely to put downward pressure on crypto prices since these risk-based investments do not pay interest.
Bearish divergence flags a possible retest of $76,000
Bitcoin has pulled back for six sessions, trading near $78,900 after opening at $81,271 on Sep. 4 and briefly falling to $78,455. On the four-hour chart, BTC sits below its Bollinger Band midpoint at $79,188, with an ADX reading of 18.31 signaling weak trend strength.
Analyst Gerla has identified a bearish divergence, where BTC could still sweep the $82,000 region for a higher high even as RSI records lower highs. The bearish case only activates after a confirmed break below channel support near $76,000, while a move above $84,000 would weaken it. A CoinGlass heatmap shows liquidation liquidity concentrated near $80,000 above the market and between $77,000 and $78,000 below it.
Yen strength revives carry-trade risk
A separate threat is building in currency markets. The Japanese yen touched its strongest level since February, reaching 152.89 per dollar before easing to 154.14, ahead of the Bank of Japan's September 17-18 meeting. A stronger yen squeezes investors who borrowed the currency to buy foreign assets, and cross-border yen borrowing reached ¥360 trillion ($2.35 trillion) in March, according to a Jefferies analysis of BIS data.
Demand elsewhere is offering some support. Farside Investors recorded $730.8 million of net inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs on Sept. 3 and another $174.6 million on Sept. 4. Glassnode placed the short-term-holder cost basis near $71,000, giving recent buyers a cushion before their average position turns unprofitable.
Bitcoin is therefore caught between ETF demand and two external headwinds — Middle East escalation and a strengthening yen — that could still force a test of $76,000 before the BOJ's decision.
Sources: Yahoo Personal Finance, crypto.news, CryptoSlate
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