Bitcoin Trades Flat After Federal Reserve Pauses Rate Hikes

The Federal Reserve opted not to raise its federal funds rate following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday, breaking an uninterrupted streak of aggressive hikes dating back to March 2022. 

Bitcoin reacted to the announcement with minimal volatility, staying rangebound between $25,800 and $26,000.

• Bitcoin traded for $26,000 minutes before the Fed’s announcement, before falling to $$25,756 moments afterward. It trades for $25,868 at press time. 
• The price move did nothing to recover losses incurred last week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued two of the crypto industry’s largest players – Binance and Coinbase – for securities law violations. 
• Data from Coinglass shows that the move triggered minimal liquidations, amounting to $28 million over the past 24 hours. 
• The Federal Reserve rose its policy rate over its last 10 meetings to quell surging CPI inflation that peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. Its efforts have managed to reign inflation back to 4% as of last month.
• The central bank’s decision to keep rates flat was in line with market expectations, which flipped after Fed Governor Philip N. Jefferson suggested weeks ago that the central bank might “hold” its policy rate constant at a “coming meeting.”
• “Skipping a rate hike at a coming meeting would allow the Committee to see more data before making decisions about the extent of additional policy firming,” he explained at the time. 
• The governor clarified that the decision to skip a hike should not be interpreted as the Fed confirming its “peak rate” for this cycle. 
• Within its announcement, the central bank explained that the Committee might “adjust” its monetary policy stance if “risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee’s goals.”