Bitcoin rose above $64,400 after the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.50%-3.75% on Wednesday, but the move quickly reversed after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh opened his press conference by saying, "There is no soft inflation target."
At press time, BTC was trading just below $64,000, up about 1% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
The price action pointed to crypto traders focusing more on Warsh’s inflation rhetoric than on the rate decision itself, which markets had largely priced in before the meeting.
Three FOMC members backed a 25 basis point hike
The pause came with an unusual wrinkle. Three Federal Open Market Committee members dissented in favor of a 25 basis point increase: Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan.
It was the first time in years that markets went into a Fed meeting divided on whether the central bank would raise rates. Futures markets had assigned roughly 35% odds to a hike ahead of the decision, based on CME FedWatch data.
Warsh’s second meeting brought a firmer message
The decision marked the second meeting under Warsh, who took over the Fed this year after President Donald Trump nominated him to replace Jerome Powell.
The policy statement said inflation "remains elevated" relative to the 2% target, "in part reflecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors, including energy." It also said economic activity is expanding "despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East."
Earlier this month, Warsh told Congress he has "no tolerance" for elevated inflation. He has also criticized the Fed’s use of forward guidance and the quarterly dot plot, leaving traders with less visibility into the path toward the Sept. 15-16 meeting.
Oil, Treasury yields and equities added pressure to risk assets
The macro setup was already difficult for crypto before the Fed announcement. Oil climbed after Trump said the U.S. would respond forcefully to attacks on American personnel in the Middle East. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.62%, near its high for the year. The Dow dropped almost 400 points in early trading before trimming losses after the Fed held rates steady.
Gold gained 1.2% on the day. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also cut their early declines after the decision, but the Nasdaq later turned 0.4% lower during Warsh’s remarks.
Major tokens stayed muted as fear remained in the market
Ethereum traded near $1,900 and XRP around $1.06, both little changed on the day.
CoinGecko data showed total crypto market capitalization at about $2.29 trillion, up 2.2% over 24 hours. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 35, still in fear territory.
The hold extended the current pause to six consecutive meetings. Over that stretch, Bitcoin has fallen from above $83,000 in late January, when a broader risk sell-off deepened across markets, and also dipped below $76,000 when the Fed held rates in a rare 8-4 split under Powell.
KAITO led gainers; XMR and ADA also advanced
Among the top 300 tokens by market value, KAITO led the gainers. CoinGecko data showed the token up 21% to $1.34. The AI-powered attention platform’s token has more than doubled in July on a wave of retail buying.
Audiera (BEAT) rose 21% to $3.84, extending a multi-day run. Holoworld (HOLO) gained 17%, and Velvet (VELVET) added 13%.
Among larger-cap names, Monero (XMR) climbed 4.4% to $354.34 on more than $106 million in volume. Cardano (ADA) rose 6.1% to $0.168, and Jupiter (JUP) added 5.6%.
Zcash’s ZEC also drew attention after the network activated its Ironwood upgrade. About $80 million of ZEC moved into the new shielded pool on the first day.
DEXE led the decliners as BANK extended its collapse
On the downside, DeXe (DEXE) fell 9.5% to $2.78 on nearly $80 million in volume, making it the biggest decliner among top-300 tokens. Kite (KITE) dropped 7.3%. EigenCloud (EIGEN), the restaking protocol formerly known as EigenLayer, slid 6.8% to $0.1846. Bitway (BTW) lost 6.2%.
LayerZero (ZRO) fell 4.3% and Ethena (ENA) dropped 4.1%, with no obvious catalysts behind either move, according to the report.
Further down the market-cap rankings, Lorenzo Protocol’s BANK extended its slide, falling 48% to $0.18 on more than $215 million in volume. The Bitcoin liquid-staking token had surged nearly 500% in a week and hit an all-time high of $0.27 on July 20 after traders spotted 84 million BANK moving from a foundation-linked wallet to a deposit address tied to Aster, the perpetuals exchange associated with Changpeng Zhao.
That unwind has now erased most of the earlier rally.