-
Federal
Reserve
chair
Jerome
Powell
tempered
expectations
of
an
imminent
interest
rate
cut
in
March
during
Wednesday’s
FOMC
press
conference. -
Bitcoin
dipped
to
$42,300,
while
crypto
majors
ETH,
ADA,
DOT
fell
3%-4%
with
Solana’s
SOL
tumbling
over
6%. -
Bitcoin
remains
in
a
channel
consolidating
without
clear
direction
between
$42,000
and
$44,000,
Swissblock
said.
Cryptocurrencies
tumbled
lower
Wednesday
with
bitcoin
(BTC)
sliding
below
$43,000
as
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell’s
hawkish
comments
cooled
hopes
about
an
imminent
rate
cut.
In
a
universally
anticipated
move,
the
Fed
left
its
benchmark
fed
funds
rate
range
unchanged
at
5.25%-5.5%
following
the
first
Federal
Open
Market
Committee
meeting
of
the
year.
Market
participants
were
more
keen
to
monitor
clues
about
when
the
Fed
might
start
lowering
rates,
with
many
observers
expecting
it
to
happen
as
soon
as
the
next
meeting
in
March.
“Based
on
the
meeting
today,”
said
Powell
at
his
post-meeting
press
conference,
“I
don’t
think
it’s
likely
that
the
committee
will
reach
a
level
of
confidence
by
the
time
of
the
March
meeting
to
identify
March
as
the
time
to
[cut].”
Risk
assets
including
cryptos
turned
sharply
lower
in
the
immediate
aftermath
of
that
remark.
BTC
fell
to
$42,300
from
its
daily
high
of
$43,700
and
was
down
2.3%
over
the
past
24
hours.
The
CoinDesk
20
{{CD20}}
index,
a
broad
crypto
market
benchmark
that
covers
some
90%
of
the
total
market
value
of
digital
assets,
declined
nearly
3%
during
the
same
time.
Other
major
cryptocurrencies
such
as
ether
(ETH),
Cardano’s
ADA,
Avalanche’s
AVAX
and
Polkadot’s
DOT
dropped
3%-4%,
while
Solana’s
SOL
lost
over
6%
during
the
day
buckling
below
$100.
In
traditional
markets,
the
Nasdaq
tumbled
2.2%
and
the
S&P
500
1.6%.
“The
market
has
gotten
ahead
of
itself
on
the
rates
side,”
Alex
Krüger,
macro
analyst
and
co-founder
of
Asgard
Markets,
said
in
a
X
post.
“Cuts
starting
in
May
or
June,
not
March.”
Indeed,
the
odds
of
a
March
rate
cut
have
been
trimmed
to
a
current
34.5%
from
about
65%
prior
to
today’s
developments,
according
to
the
CME
FedWatch
Tool.
Ruslan
Lienkha,
chief
of
markets
at
Web3
fintech
platform
YouHodler,
said
that
“any
possible
hawkish
rhetoric
about
the
longer-than-expected
time
of
high
rates
may
trigger
a
correction
in
the
stock
market
and
as
a
consequence,
capital
outflow
from
risk
assets
such
as
bitcoin.”
However,
bitcoin’s
move
to
downside
could
be
limited
as
the
largest
crypto
appears
to
be
consolidating
between
$44,000
and
$42,000
without
clear
direction,
Swissblock
analysts
said
in
a
Wednesday
market
report.
The
$42,000
area
and
below
the
$40,000
level
could
act
as
key
support
levels
for
the
price
where
buyers
might
step
in,
the
report
added.