Powell Announces Potential Pause to Rate Hikes; BTC Slips

Jerome Powell – the head of the Fed – has announced that due to ongoing stress endured by the American banking system, he and his cronies will likely ease their hiking of interest rates. Strangely, the news has not done great things for bitcoin or crypto. In fact, prices took a small and temporary dive following the announcement.

Jerome Powell Hints at Potential Curb to Rate Hikes

This is arguably the attitude Powell should have had a long time ago. When banks are failing left and right, as they’ve been doing over the past few months, one does not seek to put more financial stress on a country and its people. Rather, one steps back, assesses the damage, and tries to ease the problems as best they can.

This, however, is not what Powell has done. Rather, rate hikes have continued into 2023, and while the banking crisis has indeed allowed bitcoin and its altcoin cousins to recover somewhat from the dismal days of 2022 and the crypto winter it brought on, things are not quite where they need to be, and there’s still plenty of room to heal for the world’s number one digital asset by market cap.

Edward Moya – senior market analyst at OANDA – commented in a recent interview:

A month ago, bitcoin was surging, passing the $30,000 level for the first time since the summer of 2022. Regional banking concerns and rising Fed rate cut bets provided a lot of support for cryptos. The bullish catalysts have now faded away, and so has roughly 30 percent of this year’s rally.  Bitcoin did not get any favor from [the] SEC’s Gensler earlier in the week, just the standard comments on how rules are already in place. The regulatory question remains the key for the crypto verse, and traders will have to remain patient.

Crypto trader Tony Vays also threw his two cents in, claiming that while prices may have taken a sudden (albeit small) dip in the short term, he believes the market is turning itself around and bitcoin traders can expect a solid bull run in the coming months. Over the next few years, he’s confident bitcoin will poise itself to reach a price of $300K. He stated:

We continue to consolidate. It’s continued to be frustrating. I’ve been a bitcoiner, and it’s very, very clear that bitcoin is choosing the purple path. I have two paths for bitcoin. One was a little more bullish with a lower top ($200,000), and the other was a little more bearish with a higher top ($300,000) a little further down in time.

Inflation Remains a Problem

The rate hikes discussed above were constant throughout the year 2022 thanks to poor economic policies signed into law by Joe Biden.

These policies resulted in record inflation, and the rate hikes became the only tool for fighting this enemy.