Crypto traders are feeling anxious as they anticipate Fed Chair Powell’s speech after the FOMC meeting concludes later today.
Summary
- Fed Chair Jerome Powell will present a speech regarding the Fed’s recent policy decisions and economic outlook later today.
- The CME’s FedWatch tool indicates a 99.9% probability of a 25bps rate cut.
- In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies have seen slight declines.
As reported by crypto.news, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies dipped by 1.2% to approximately $3.9 trillion, with most significant tokens showing slight losses.
Currently, Bitcoin (BTC), the leading cryptocurrency, is trading around $113,446, reflecting a 5% increase over the past week but a 0.6% decrease in the last 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) is priced near $4,017, down 2.3%, while Solana (SOL) and Binance’s BNB dropped by 3.6% and 1.1%, respectively.
XRP (XRP) remains in the positive zone at $2.63, continuing its robust seven-day rally as traders shift focus to higher-volume tokens.
Crypto investors are in a wait-and-see attitude as they prepare for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s policy statement following the conclusion of the two-day FOMC meeting that commenced on Oct. 28.
At the time of writing, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index is neutral at 51, just one point increase from the previous day, indicating minimal change in market sentiment. CoinGlass data reveals that open interest across major exchanges fell 1.34% to $163 billion, while total liquidations rose to approximately $521 million, mainly due to over-leveraged long positions.
After the FOMC meeting, the Federal Reserve will announce its policy statement at 6:00 p.m. UTC, detailing the committee’s latest decisions on interest rates and the economic outlook. This will be followed by a press conference at 6:30 p.m. UTC, where Powell is expected to elaborate on the Fed’s perspective.
The event will be live-streamed on both the Federal Reserve’s official website, federalreserve.gov, and its official YouTube channel.
Crypto traders are largely predicting a rate cut today. Recent data from CME’s FedWatch Tool indicates an overwhelming 99.9% chance of a rate cut in October. This significant increase followed last Friday’s CPI data, which was softer than expected, igniting hopes that the Fed may ease its tightening cycle.
Market participants are keenly observing Powell’s comments for insights into future policy directions, particularly regarding the potential for another rate cut by the end of 2025. Current poll data from Polymarket shows an 86% likelihood of a cumulative reduction of 75 basis points by December.
For the time being, a cautious 25 basis point cut in today’s announcement would likely reaffirm the Fed’s data-driven approach, which could favor risk assets like Bitcoin, typically rallying on rate cuts.
Conversely, if the Fed opts to maintain current rates, crypto investors may face disappointment after building significant expectations for a cut, potentially leading to short-term volatility for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
