Bitcoin traded around the $105,000 level in European morning hours Thursday as the year’s first U.S. FOMC meeting concluded with keeping rates steady, bumping sentiment across stock equities and crypto markets.
Jerome Powell-led FOMC maintained the policy rate steady at 4.25-4.50 per cent in the first decision of Trump’s presidency after reducing the rates for three straight meetings in 2024.
“We do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,” Powell said in a post-policy press conference. The rate pause comes because officials seek further progress on inflation.
Interest rate hikes can make traditional investments more appealing, potentially reducing demand for bitcoin. Conversely, lower rates tend to boost bitcoin by making other investments less attractive. Higher rates might strengthen the dollar, impacting bitcoin’s price negatively, while lower rates could do the opposite.
BTC added nearly 3% in the past 24 hours after the FOMC meeting, reversing all losses from a Monday bloodbath that saw prices drop as much as 8% — a liquidatations-led flushout that was ripe for dip buying opportunities, as CoinDesk noted.
Cardano’s ADA, dogecoin (DOGE), xrp (XRP) and ether (ETH) mirrored BTC’s gains, rising as much as 3%. Solana’s SOL outperformed with a 4% rise. The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20) added 2.8%.
Outside of majors, litecoin (LTC) surged 14% as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially acknowledged the 19b-4 filing from Canary Capital for a spot Litecoin ETF, marking it as the first of its kind beyond BTC and ETH.
“First alt coin 19b-4 to be acknowledged, rest were told to withdraw by Genz SEC,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said on X. “In the comments from SEC on the S-1 and this filing is by far the furthest along checking all the boxes.”
A public comment period has now been initiated with a 240-day decision deadline for the SEC in about 240 days.