US Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged, Bitcoin price floats above $27,000

• The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting took place on September 20, resulting in no change in the interest rates.
• The Central Bank of the United States will be pausing rates for the second time this year, keeping the target rates at 5.25% - 5.50%.
• Bitcoin price, along with the rest of the market, noted no stark movement as the Fed’s decision came in as per expectations.

Earlier this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated that the country would likely only see two more rate hikes until the end of 2023. The last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) led to the first of the two interest rate increases. While this time around, the interest rate is not expected to see much difference, the same cannot be said about the next meeting.

Federal Reserve keeps target rate unchanged

The target interest rate remains unchanged at 5.25% - 5.50% following the recent FOMC meeting. The decision was made according to the global market’s expectations. However, the interest rate still stands at the highest it has been in 22 years. Reiterating the same, the FOMC statement read, 

“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 percent. The Committee will continue to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy.

According to FXStreet Yohay Elam, the lack of a rate hike could be a hint as to what the market can expect from the next meeting in November. Per Elam, the dot plot will play a key role in determining the course of action in the future. He noted,

“Markets digest numerical data faster than words, and the interest rate expectation for the end of 2023 is critical. In the last Fed projections back in June, the median hit 5.6%, two rate hikes above the level back then. With one hike done in July, leaving the figure at 5.6% would signal the bank is not done yet – or at least not willing to admit it now.

The stock market, right after the release of the interest rate decision akin to the crypto market, has been rather calm initially following the release of the statement.

Bitcoin price still above key support

Bitcoin price is presently trading at $27,200, with some fluctuations in the value of the cryptocurrency noted here and there. Similarly, the altcoins also did not observe much change either, with the home of the DeFi protocol Ethereum staying put at $1,631. 

BTC/USD 1-day chart

The only cryptocurrency to notice some gain in the past hour is Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB). Both the altcoins are up by nearly 1% but are still not significant enough to cause a ripple in the market movement. Thus, going forward, the crypto market is expected to stay put and refrain from slipping anytime soon.

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