Bitcoin (BTC) remained above $60,000 early Wednesday, after a brief decline below this threshold during late U.S. hours. Traders anticipate that U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) chair Jerome Powell will announce interest rate reductions during the upcoming meeting.
BTC was trading at slightly above $60,300 at the time of reporting, reflecting an increase of nearly 4% in the last 24 hours, so extending weekly gains to over 7%.
Prominent tokens saw varied fluctuations, with ether (ETH), BNB Chain’s BNB, and dogecoin (DOGE) increasing by less than 1%, while xrp (XRP), Cardano’s ADA, and Toncoin (TON) seeing minor declines.
The FOMC is anticipated to issue its statement and interest rate decision later on Wednesday. A shift towards reduced borrowing costs has traditionally enhanced optimistic feeling among traders, as affordable access to capital stimulates expansion in higher-risk sectors.
Federal funds data indicates that traders anticipate a 67% probability of a reduction that will adjust rates to the 4.5%-5% range from the present two-decade peak of 5.25% to 5.5%. A substantial reduction would result in rates decreasing by 0.5 percentage points, rather than the customary 0.25 percentage point decline.
