Major cryptocurrencies experienced a decline on Wednesday evening following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments, which cooled expectations for an imminent rate cut.
What Happened: The Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark fed funds rate range at 5.25%-5.5% after the initial Federal Open Market Committee gathering of the year. Market observers eagerly awaited indications of a potential rate cut, with many anticipating it to occur at the upcoming meeting in March.
“Based on the meeting today,” said Powell at his post-meeting press conference, “I don’t think it’s likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting to identify March as the time to [cut].”
Following the statement, risk assets, including cryptocurrencies, experienced a sudden decline. Bitcoin plummeted to $42,100.
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The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.51 trillion, showing a 8.29% decrease in the past 24 hours.
Stocks dipped on Wednesday following Federal Reserve ...