BTC Plunges to $43,000 following Interest Rate Cut Remarks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Cryptocurrencies tumbled lower Wednesday with bitcoin (BTC) sliding below $43,000 as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's hawkish comments cooled hopes about an imminent rate cut.
In a globally predicted move, the Fed left its benchmark fed funds rate range unchanged at 5.25%-5.5% following the first Federal Open Market Committee meeting of the year. Market participants were more keen to monitor clues about when the Fed might start lowering rates, with many observers expecting it to happen as soon as the next 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)."
Other major cryptocurrencies such as ether (ETH), Cardano's ADA, Avalanche's AVAX and Polkadot's DOT dropped 3%-4%, while Solana's SOL lost over 6% during the day buckling below $100, coindesk.com reported.
However, bitcoin's move to downside could be limited as the largest crypto appears to be consolidating between $44,000 and $42,000 without clear direction, Swissblock analysts said in a Wednesday market report.