US Fed Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged, Bitcoin Hits 17-Month High

• The Federal Reserve maintains interest rates in the range of 5.25% to 5.50%, with no rate hikes since July.
• Bitcoin (BTC) hits a 17-month high at $35,902, driving a global cryptocurrency market surge.

The US Federal Reserve made a significant decision during its policy meeting from October 31 to November 1. Despite the US economy’s resilience and persistently high inflation above the Fed’s 2% target, the central bank chose to keep interest rates steady at their current 22-year high.

This decision marks the continuation of the central bank’s stance after leaving the benchmark interest rates untouched in the range of 5.25% to 5.50% during its last policy meeting. Despite the Fed not having raised interest rates since July, the impact on consumer borrowing costs continues to be evident.

The Federal Reserve’s unwavering stance follows its September meeting, where interest rates were maintained at a 22-year high. Further, market expectations have aligned with the Federal Reserve’s decision, with investors anticipating that the central bank will persist with its current benchmark interest rate during the November meeting.

However, the interesting development that has captured the attention of the central bank is the surge in long-term bond yields, which have seen a significant increase of over 50 basis points since the Fed’s last policy meeting on September 20. The US 10-year bond yield, an influential indicator for global borrowing rates, has surged by a noteworthy 86 basis points, escalating from 4.09 percent on August 31 to its current rate of 4.95 percent, largely due to expectations of additional rate hikes.

Crypto Market Soaring to New Highs

The global cryptocurrency market witnessed a significant influence following this announcement, leading to Bitcoin (BTC) reaching a 17-month high at $35,902. Currently, the total market capitalization for cryptocurrencies stands at $1.32 trillion, an increase of 3.25%. 

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $35,614, climbing over 3.8% in the last 24 hours and 74% in a year. Additionally, the daily trading volume of BTC has surged 59% to $24.7 billion. Other prominent altcoins like Ethereum, XRP, and BNB are showing a parallel upward trend alongside BTC.