Bitcoin dips below $61K despite Fed’s dovish stance

The FOMC minutes published on Oct. 9 effectively confirmed a 50 basis point cut in interest rates this year, but Bitcoin failed to mirror the rally in equities.

Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.

Bitcoin (BTC) continued trading in the red and fell below $61,000 despite the Federal Reserve’s dovish remarks in the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) minutes published on Oct. 9.

As of press time, BTC was trading at $60,935, down 2% over the past 24 hours.

The FOMC minutes revealed that a “substantial majority” of the participants supported a 50 basis point reduction in US interest rates this year, which would bring it down to a range of 4.75% to 5%.

While a minority preferred a smaller cut of 25 basis points, citing concerns that a larger reduction could be perceived as premature, the larger cut backers argued that it aligned better with recent indicators of inflation and labor market conditions.

Moreover, they emphasized that this adjustment would help sustain economic and labor market strength while continuing progress toward the inflation target of 2%.

Other major cap altcoins echoed Bitcoin’s subdued price action, with Ethereum (ETH) falling 1% over the past day, followed by Solana (SOL) dipping 2.5% and BNB Coin (BNB) declining 2.3%.

Despite the lack of bullish momentum in the crypto market, futures open interest spiked significantly following the FOMC meeting.

Meanwhile, the US equities market reacted positively to the minutes. The S&P 500 is up 0.68% on the day and moving toward a new all-time high, while the Nasdaq Index climbed 0.5% and is currently priced at the highest level since the early September crash.

Andrew Kang, the co-founder of venture capital fund Mechanism Capital, stated that the disconnect between crypto and equities performance related to rate cuts is natural.

Kang highlighted that equities are more closely related to US interest rate policies because rate cuts value cash flows and mature corporate debt markets used to finance growth; hence, equities jumped after the minutes were out, while crypto continues to lag.

Traders remain in a state of uncertainty and are most likely waiting for US economic data due on Oct. 10 before making a more decisive move.

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