Odaily reported that CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler said Bitcoin came under immediate pressure after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 3.50%-3.75% while releasing a more hawkish dot plot. Bitcoin broke below the $64,000 mark, and at one point during the session fell about 4% from its intraday high. The meeting marked the Fed’s fourth consecutive decision to leave rates unchanged, but the latest dot plot showed a notable hawkish shift in the policy path.
The dot plot mattered more than the unchanged rate decision
According to the cited analysis, the change in the projected policy path carried more weight for markets than the rate decision itself. Several officials still expected rate increases this year, weakening market pricing around rate-cut expectations. That shift directly pressured the valuations of risk assets, including Bitcoin.
Market data showed that Bitcoin initially rose to around $66,400 after the announcement, but then quickly reversed lower under heavy selling pressure. The price fell to a low of about $63,870, while trading volume increased noticeably. The move indicated that the decline was driven by active selling rather than a quiet drift lower.
Bitcoin is now consolidating near the lower end of the $63,600-$64,000 range, and there has not yet been a clear inflow of bargain-hunting capital. The short-term tone has shifted as the market moves away from a phase in which easing expectations supported risk assets and toward a phase in which a hawkish policy path weighs on valuations.
Gold rebounds while Bitcoin fails to reclaim $64,000
Gold showed a very different reaction under the same macro shock. Spot gold briefly fell to around $4,220, but was quickly bought back, reclaiming the area above $4,300 and trading near $4,321. The move showed stronger defensive characteristics and better capital absorption in gold. Even as geopolitical risk eased at the margin, demand for safe-haven exposure remained resilient.
Market participants said the core split in this round of price action came from the repricing of asset characteristics. Gold repaired quickly after the same macro event, while Bitcoin failed to recover the key $64,000 level. That divergence showed that risk assets were more sensitive to the prospect of higher rates lasting longer.
The key level now lies in whether Bitcoin can regain the $64,000-$65,000 range and stabilize with expanding volume. If that does not happen, the current weak consolidation structure could continue, with the market still adjusting to the Fed’s more hawkish path rather than the unchanged policy rate alone.