FED Chairman Powell is currently delivering his fifth statement of the year after about a month and a half. Before Powell’s speech, the fifth FED decision of 2024 was also announced. Bitcoin and altcoin investors closely followed the 2024 interest rate decision, which did not reflect any changes and kept the FED rate steady at 5.25-5.50. While Bitcoin’s price remained stable after the announcement, all eyes turned to Powell. Here are the highlights from Powell’s speech.
Powell Delivers Statement
About a minute ago, FED Chairman Jerome Powell took the microphone to deliver a speech that could significantly impact the rest of 2024. Recently, FedWatch suggested a 100% chance of rate cuts at the next meeting in September.
The speech, which started at 21:30, is also considered important for crypto investors. Powell’s speeches have significantly impacted market movements since the beginning of rate hikes. We will share the key points of Powell’s statements throughout the speech in this news.
According to the announcement made at 21:00, the FED decided to keep the rates unchanged. It is also seen that the complex statements by FED officials about when the rate cuts will occur have not yet been clarified.
Powell’s fourth statement of the year is expected to address some points regarding the increasingly difficult rate cuts during the second quarter of 2024.
Here are the key points from Powell’s statements:
- The labor market has become more balanced. The pace of spending has slowed but remains solid.
- Recent indicators show the economy continues to grow steadily.
- Investments in the housing sector stalled in the 2nd quarter.
- Data show the labor market has returned to its pre-pandemic state.
- A broad set of labor market indicators shows strength but not overheating.
- Inflation remains slightly above the 2% target.
- We need more confidence regarding inflation.
- 2nd quarter inflation data increased our confidence. We will carefully evaluate incoming data for future decisions.
- Fed policy is well-positioned.
- Delaying cuts too long could unnecessarily weaken the economy.
- We have not made any decisions regarding future meetings, including September.
Fed and Cryptocurrencies
After the FED’s decision, attention turned to Bitcoin and altcoin prices. During periods of rate hikes, BTC prices clearly fell. After the FED maintained a steady rate outlook in recent months, prices gradually rose, and BTC reached its ATH.
Today, the whole world seems focused on when rate cuts will occur. Despite this, BTC’s price remains close to its ATH. As of the writing time, BTC is trading at $66,100 after a drop of less than 1% in the last 24 hours.
There is a widespread belief in the market that BTC could move to new ATHs with potential future rate cuts, which investors have noticed as Bitcoin’s cycle has historically moved in this direction.
Recently attracting attention with ETFs, ETH’s price is currently finding buyers at $3,287 after a 1% drop as of the writing time.
