The US Federal Reserve (FED) left interest rates unchanged last night as expected. However, following the Fed’s decision, Chairman Jerome Powell indicated verbally that policymakers would remain cautious about cutting rates as long as inflationary pressures persist.
Powell hinted at the possibility of a two-pronged approach on interest rates, saying the issue of raising interest rates was also discussed at the last meeting.
Powell’s comments signal that the Fed is taking a cautious approach to basing its policy decisions on data, leaving both rate cuts and rate hikes as possible options.
The Fed also added that it plans to cut rates once in 2026 and once in 2027.
The Fed’s cautious approach to interest rate policy caused a sharp decline in the crypto market as well as gold and silver.
Over $100 billion has been wiped from market value in the past 24 hours, making Bitcoin’s losses even deeper ($BTC) and major altcoins.
Bitcoin price fell below $70,000 during the day, $BTCThe stock had risen above $76,000 the previous day, but quickly reversed direction and fell.
The Fed also left altcoins in the red. Major altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and XRP experienced losses in the 5-6% range.
According to Coinglass data, the total amount liquidated in the past 24 hours reached $581 million. Of this amount, $491.2 million was from long positions and $89.7 million from short positions.
The FED also lowered the price of gold and silver!
The Fed-induced decline was not limited to Bitcoin and altcoins. Gold and silver prices also fell significantly.
According to data shared by crypto analytics platform Lookonchain, spot gold has fallen to $4,700 per ounce.
Gold fell about 2% daily, hitting its lowest since February 6th.
This decline also affected silver, with physical silver dropping below $70. According to data shared by Lookonchain, on March 19, spot silver fell below $70, the lowest since February 6, with an intraday decline of over 7%.
*This is not investment advice.
