Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rates Again – BTC Back to 30K?

On Jul 26, 2023

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The US Federal Reserve has disclosed its decision to raise the interest rate by another 0.25%, marking its 11th consecutive increase since March 2022. While the stock market responded positively to the news, experiencing its usual post-FOMC meeting surge, the price of BTC has shown little to no significant change in reaction to the announcement.

Future Hikes to be Dependent on Data

In line with market expectations, the FOMC issued a public announcement on Wednesday, revealing their plans to implement a 25 basis points hike in interest rates, despite the inflation rate showing relative softness compared to the previous month. Despite this milder inflation data, policymakers remained cautious and didn’t waver from their hawkish stance, expressing the need for more progress in reducing price pressures.

The stock market responded swiftly to the news, experiencing a surge as many had anticipated. However, the price correction that followed indicated that the initial spike was largely driven by the market’s anticipation of the announcement, rather than a sustained reaction to the news.

As a result of this recent move, the interest rate now stands in the range of 5.25% to 5.5%, reaching its highest level in 22 years. The committee emphasized their ongoing commitment to achieving a 2% CPI rate, acknowledging that it remains a distant goal from the current rate. The decision to raise interest rates was unanimous, and they will continue with their previously announced plans to reduce bond holdings. To allay concerns, the committee assured citizens that the banking system was stable and sound.

Initial key Fed Powell comments 👇
💥 Will make decisions MEETING BY MEETING
💥 Future hikes DATA DEPENDENT
➡️ Havent made decision to go to every other meeting
➡️ Still a long way to 2% CPI, full tightening effect not yet felt
🔻CPI will likely mean below trend growth
— Kathy Lien (@kathylienfx) July 26, 2023

Following the announcement, several influential figures in the finance realm promptly picked up the information and conveyed it to the public in clear and layman’s terms, ensuring that they widely understood the impact and implications of the decision.

Will this Announcement Affect Bitcoin’s Price?

The leading cryptocurrency has experienced a drop from its previous range of around $30k to the $29.3k range in recent days, maintaining the same high level of volatility observed over the past couple of weeks. Despite this fluctuation, numerous investors remain optimistic that the announcement might have some impact on BTC’s price in the next couple of hours or days, potentially nudging it back to or even above the $30k range once again.

In June, BTC experienced a substantial increase in value, surging from the $25k range to over $30k after the FOMC’s announcement. The sudden decrease in the CPI rate further fueled excitement among investors, likely contributing to the price skyrocketing. However, considering the recent data, achieving a similar level of growth in the short term may be less probable. It is likely that the lack of clarity from the Federal Reserve regarding its future plans could be another reason for this.

However, it has been asserted by the Federal Reserve that each decision will be made on a meeting-by-meeting basis. Despite this apparently being the best plan of action as per the committee, it seems to have left investors uncertain about the potential movement of markets, be it stocks or cryptocurrencies.

“We can afford to be a little patient as well as resolute” – Jerome Powell

Despite the general optimism surrounding the actions being taken, the recent meeting only brought a subtle change in the language used to describe the inflation rate slowdown. Instead of referring to it as “modest,” the committee now described it as “moderate.” Twitter users were quick to point out that much of the data released that day seemed to have a bearish impact on the US dollar.

“I would say it’s certainly possible that we will raise funds again at the September meeting if the data warranted,” the chairman of the FOMC stated, in the interview that he gave following the release of data from the committee.