Bitcoin steadies near $82,000 as Warsh declines to signal another Fed hike

Bitcoin spent October 16 holding its ground above $80,000, trading in a range of roughly $81,800 to $82,060. The day before, Bitcoin had dipped to a low of approximately $79,700. The recovery to around $82,000 followed comments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh that traders read as a sign the central bank is not rushing toward another rate increase. A hot CPI print, then a shrug from the Fed chair The pressure started with inflation. The US consumer price index for September came in at 3.7% year-on-year, above the 3.6% consensus forecast. A tenth of a percentage point sounds trivial. For rate traders, it was enough to push up bets that the Fed would raise rates again at its October 27–28 meeting. Then Warsh spoke. He indicated the Fed was not prepared to offer forward guidance on where monetary policy goes next. Traders took that as less hawkish than feared. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the probability of a rate increase at the upcoming meeting dropped from about 28% to roughly 15%. Seoul’s chip rout and Bitcoin’s divergence While US rate expectations were shifting, South Korea’s stock market was having a rough stretch. The KOSPI index fell as much as 7.5%, dragged down by memory c...