Bitcoin and XRP Stay Under Pressure as Select Altcoins Rally 20%-35%, 10x Research Says

Highlights:

• Bitcoin and XRP remain below key moving averages after the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate.
• Select altcoins gained 20% to 35% as DeFi catalysts and institutional adoption drove stronger market performance.
• Bitcoin miners are expanding into AI infrastructure as long-term data center deals reshape the sector.

Bitcoin and XRP remain below key technical levels, while a small group of altcoins has gained between 20% and 35%, according to a new market report from 10x Research. The firm said the crypto market has become increasingly divided as traders respond to regulatory developments and project-specific catalysts.

10x Research published its Crypto Market Drivers report on September 18. The firm said Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies such as XRP remained “pinned below key moving averages” after the CLARITY Act stalled in the U.S. Senate. At the same time, several altcoins linked to decentralized finance infrastructure recorded much stronger gains.

The report covers developments across diversified crypto assets, Bitcoin mining companies, digital asset treasury firms and broader macro conditions.

Bitcoin and XRP Struggle After CLARITY Act Vote

Pressure on the broader crypto market increased after the U.S. Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on September 15. Senators voted 49-50 on the procedural motion, falling short of the 60 votes required to move the legislation forward for debate. The vote was not a final decision on the bill itself, but it created another setback for efforts to establish a clearer federal framework for the U.S. crypto market.

Bitcoin fell toward $75,600 as the Senate vote unfolded before recovering part of the decline. Major altcoins also came under selling pressure following the result. Against that backdrop, 10x Research said Bitcoin and XRP continue to trade below important moving averages. Traders commonly use moving averages to track an asset’s average price over a set period and identify changes in market momentum. However, the weakness has not spread evenly across the crypto market.

If you think crypto is boring and going nowhere, you're not paying attention.

ZEC led with a 36% weekly gain, trailed by UNI (30%) and ARB (25%).

But the story doesn't stop at the top, even the 20th name on this list, BNB, still returned 3% for the week.

That's a… pic.twitter.com/874jdBU9GY

— 10x Research (@10xResearch) September 18, 2026

Select Altcoins Gain Up to 35% on Strong Catalysts

While Bitcoin and other major assets struggled, 10x Research said a handful of altcoins climbed between 20% and 35%. According to the firm, the stronger performers included DeFi infrastructure projects benefiting from factors such as fee burns and institutional adoption. 10x Research described them as catalysts that many traders had not fully recognized.

Fee burns remove tokens from circulation, usually by permanently sending them to an unusable address. Depending on a project’s design, lower circulating supply combined with stronger network activity can attract additional market attention. Institutional adoption is also becoming an important driver for individual crypto projects as financial companies expand their use of blockchain infrastructure.

The difference in performance suggests traders are becoming more selective rather than buying or selling the entire crypto market together.

Bitcoin Miners See Growing AI and Data Center Interest

10x Research also pointed to changes taking place among publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies. The firm said the industry’s shift toward artificial intelligence infrastructure is producing increasingly different outcomes among miners. One company has secured a multi-billion-dollar data center lease lasting more than a decade, according to the report.

Several Bitcoin miners have been looking beyond crypto mining by using their power capacity and data center infrastructure for AI and high-performance computing workloads.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading around $78,000, while XRP stood near $1.31. Meanwhile, select altcoins and mining stocks continued to gain on their own market catalysts.