It was/is Fed today. Everything went whipsaw-ish after 1400 EST. $BTC was no exception. 🪚
After the announcement that a 25 basis point hike was coming (it was expected), there wasn’t a ton of response until 1430 when Powell began his presser. From there, Bitcoin dropped by -4.43% from $28.5k to a hair above $27k.
Some key takeaways from today’s Fed FUD:
- The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has almost unanimously decided that growth risks are weighted to the downside.
- Inflation? No worries, it’s just a pesky detail that remains well above their longer-run goal.
- In a delightful turn of events, consumer spending appears to have picked up this quarter, although some of that might be attributed to good ol’ Mother Nature.
- On the other hand, longer-term expectations are well-anchored on various metrics – as if those mean anything anymore.
- As for the banking turmoil, just think of it as a rate hike or perhaps more than that. It’s possible banking issues could have a minimal effect, or it could result in significant tightening.
But fear not; the Fed is tirelessly monitoring incoming data. Powell remains hawkish, but more importantly, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has made it clear there will be no changes to deposit insurance.
We’ll get a better idea of how the market feels in the coming days and weeks. 🤢