Bitcoin Pumps as Market Awaits Fed Rate Verdict

Bitcoin and most other big coins and tokens have jumped at the start of what will be an important week for the crypto and equities markets. 

BTC, the biggest digital asset by market cap, is now trading for over $43,000 per coin, according to CoinGecko. It has risen 3% in 24 hours and 7% over the past week. 

Last week, it dropped—albeit briefly—below $39,000. Market observers have been torn on what, exactly, the asset will do now that several spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETF) have been approved.

So far, it has struggled to make gains. 

But this week could be even more key as the U.S. central bank decides what to do about interest rates. 

In 2022, the Fed started aggressively raising rates in a bid to try and control 40-year high inflation. Initially, the hikes negatively impacted the value of stocks and crypto.

Both digital assets like BTC and U.S. equities—particularly tech stocks on the Nasdaq—are “risk assets”, meaning their prices are more volatile than other investments. 

As interest rates rose, such assets took a beating as traders avoided risk and instead retreated to the dollar. 

Though over the past year, inflation in the U.S. has been reigned in—somewhat—but it is expected that Wednesday will be too early for the Fed to start slashing interest rates.

Rather, it is likely they will stay the same. And current BTC price action reflects that, European digital asset manager CoinShares’ head of research, James Butterfill, told Decrypt. 

But if Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hints that a cut will be likely at the Federal Open Market Committee’s March meeting, the price of Bitcoin could continue to go up, he added. 

Stocks have already had a terrific month—with the S&P 500 setting records last week. Today, U.S. stocks were little changed. 

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.