No Surprise, No Spike: BTC Relatively Flat Following Fed’s Decision to Maintain Rates
The Fed’s decision didn’t significantly impact bitcoin’s price, but it will likely disappoint U.S. President Donald Trump who earlier in the day called Fed Chairman Jerome Powell “stupid” for not cutting rates.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, for the fourth time in a row, left rates unchanged Wednesday afternoon, citing elevated inflation and uncertainty around the direction of the U.S. economy. The decision was expected, and bitcoin (BTC) chugged along mostly flat, while stocks had already climbed higher earlier on.
The Fed’s decision is unlikely to sit well with U.S. President Donald Trump who called Fed Chairman Jerome Powell “stupid” for not cutting rates just hours before the central bank announced its decision. Trump also touted positive employment data released by the White House today showing that for the first five months of his presidency, blue-collar workers enjoyed a 1.7% increase in real wage growth, the largest jump in nearly 60 years.
“Wow!!! U.S. Wage Growth BEST IN 60 YEARS!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
(U.S. real wage growth for blue-collar workers for the first 5 months of Trump’s presidency / White House)
Bitcoin was on its way to $110K last week, until Israel’s sudden attack on Iran, which saw the cryptocurrency drop 2.8%. BTC has languished ever since, and the Fed’s decision today to maintain rates within the 4.25-4.50% range failed to illicit a major price reaction in either direction. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow were all positive throughout the day, recording increases of 0.30%, 0.41%, and 0.29% respectively, according to data from CNBC at the time of reporting.
“Inflation remains somewhat elevated,” the Fed wrote in its official statement. “Uncertainty about the economic outlook has diminished but remains elevated… In support of its goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25 to 4.5 percent.”
Overview of Market Metrics
Bitcoin treaded water today, ticking up a meager 0.42% to $104,364.49 after trading between $103,646.41 and $105,581.85. However, the weekly outlook remains bearish, with BTC still down 4.25% from seven days ago.
(BTC price / Trading View)
Trading activity cooled significantly, with the cryptocurrency’s 24-hour volume falling nearly 18% to $46.93 billion, suggesting a pause in momentum. Market capitalization, however, edged higher by 0.61% to $2.07 trillion. BTC dominance crept up to 64.90%, a 0.13% gain, indicating bitcoin held up slightly better than most altcoins.
(BTC dominance / Trading View)
In derivatives markets, futures open interest fell by 2.54% to $69.13 billion, pointing to waning confidence among leveraged traders. Data from Coinglass paints a grim picture for bulls, with total liquidations reaching $46.36 million. Roughly $30.08 million of that was from long positions and $16.28 million was from shorts.