In response to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged at its September meeting, the cryptocurrency market experienced some fluctuations. Bitcoin briefly dipped below the $26,900 mark in the early hours following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments about potential interest rate hikes to combat inflation. However, Bitcoin quickly rebounded, trading above the $27,000 support level. Ethereum also faced a drop but managed to stay above $1,600. Meanwhile, most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies recorded losses in the past 24 hours, with Toncoin leading the decliners with a significant 6% slide.
As of 07:30 a.m. in Hong Kong, Bitcoin showed a 0.28% dip in the last 24 hours, settling at $27,137.70. Nevertheless, the world’s largest cryptocurrency still secured a weekly gain of 3.52%, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The Fed’s announcement included a long-anticipated pause in its cycle of rate hikes, maintaining rates at 5.25% and 5.50%, marking their highest levels in 22 years. The central bank also raised its projected interest rates for the end of 2023 to 5.6%, signaling the possibility of another rate hike within the year. Additionally, the Fed increased its projection for the end of 2024 to 5.1%, up from the 4.3% predicted in June.
Michael Silberberg, Head of Investor Relations at the U.S.-based crypto hedge fund AltTab Capital, expressed his surprise at the report’s emphasis on slower rate cuts than previously projected. While regulatory concerns and rate hikes persist, Markus Thielen, Head of Research and Strategy at digital asset service platform Matrixport, noted some “breakout signals” for Bitcoin, including its move above the 50-day average of $27,103, signaling a potential bullish trend.
Ether experienced a 1.26% decline, trading at $1,622.84, yet still managed a 0.97% weekly gain. Among the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, XRP and Solana’s SOL were exceptions, with revenues of 1.52% and 1.33%, respectively.
Toncoin, the native token of The Open Network (TON), faced the steepest decline, plummeting 6.54% to $2.41 while holding a significant weekly gain of 27.20%. The token has surged nearly 75% in the past 30 days. TON is a blockchain-based network developed initially by messaging giant Telegram. Toncoin received a boost from the launch of TON Space, a self-custodial digital wallet accessible to Telegram’s estimated 800 million users.
Despite the short-term fluctuations, the total crypto market capitalization slightly dipped by 0.47% in the past 24 hours to $1.07 trillion. Trading volume showed a modest increase of 2.75%, reaching $28.05 billion.
