Bitcoin exceeds $24k after Fed rate hike announcement

02 Feb 2023

The Bitcoin price surpassed the $24,000 mark following indications from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that inflation had started to slow in the world’s largest economy.

“We can now say, I think for the first time, that the disinflationary process has started […] we see it really in goods prices,” Powell said during a Federal Open Market Committee press briefing on Wednesday after announcing a 25 basis point rate hike. 

The crypto markets seem to have responded well to the rate hike and Powell’s comments, as the overall market cap increased by more than $40 billion in the hours following the announcement.

The global crypto market cap now stands at $1.09 trillion, a 3.88% rise over the day before, as per the latest data from Coinmarketcap.

In addition, Bitcoin edged above $24,000 for the first time this year to hit $24,161.27, according to Coinmarketcap. Should the price break above $24,800, it may reach the $25,250 level, Crypto News reports.

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum rose by 3% following Powell’s announcement to trade at $1,635 at press time, CoinDesk reports.

However, Jerome Powell said inflation is still forecast to continue to rise within the services sector for a while yet and to prepare for “ongoing rate rises.”

“We see ourselves as having more persistent inflation in that [services] sector, which will take longer to get down, and we have to complete the job. That’s what we’re here for,” he stated.

The Fed chair added that “ongoing rate rises” would still be required as the central bank attempts to revert inflation back to the 2% target, Cointelegraph reports.

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