Bitcoin fell below the $25,000 mark for the first time since March 17, following a hawkish Federal Reserve announcement in another tumultuous week for the crypto industry.
Within 30 minutes on June 15, the bitcoin price fell 4 percent from $25,867 to $24,819, according to TradingView. At the time of publication, Bitcoin has recovered lost ground and is holding just above $25,000. Bitcoin has held near $26,00 0 over the past week as Markets focused on the SEC's legal action against cryptocurrency exchange heavyweights Coinbase and Binance, as well as macroeconomic uncertainty surrounding signals from the US federal rate Sexual increase booking.
Prices fell sharply about three hours after the Federal Reserve announced a pause in rate hikes after a 15-month campaign to tackle soaring inflation.
While the market is almost unanimously expecting a pause in interest rates, the FOMC statement hinted at further rate hikes to come, which typically dampens investor enthusiasm for risky assets such as cryptocurrencies. According to eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has Made it clear that this is only a temporary pause that could spell more trouble for Bitcoin in the long run.
"Most of the positive sentiment we've seen this year from risk assets, including bitcoin, has been predicated on expectations that inflation will come down and interest rates will peak and then start to come down," Gilbert said.
“Inflation is headed in the right direction, but Jerome Powell's comments suggesting interest rates could stay higher for longer will put Bitcoin at a disadvantage.” The second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum, also took a hit, falling more t han 5 percent from $1,727 to $1,631 in the same time frame. Altcoins have not been immune to the bearish sentiment, with many tokens marked as securities amid the SEC lawsuit falling more than 3%.
Cardano, It is currently down 3.4% over the past 24 hours, while Polygon and Solana, They fell 3.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
Bitcoin's current options data points to further declines for Bitcoin, especially given the regulatory hostility toward the cryptocurrency industry in the US and the possibility of further rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in the coming months.
