{"id":73446,"date":"2023-02-01T22:09:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T20:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=73446"},"modified":"2025-09-09T14:11:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:11:22","slug":"fed-raises-key-rate-bitcoin-edges-higher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/fed-raises-key-rate-bitcoin-edges-higher\/","title":{"rendered":"Fed raises key rate; Bitcoin edges higher"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, February 1, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) raised<\/a> the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, to 4.50%\u20134.75% per year.<\/p>\n

This was the eighth consecutive rate hike, with the rate now at its highest since 2007. At the same time, the seemingly \u201csoft\u201d increase proved to be the first since March 2022, when the Fed began tightening monetary policy.<\/p>\n

\"\u0414\u0438\u043d\u0430\u043c\u0438\u043a\u0430
Federal funds rate dynamics. Data: Macrotrends<\/a>.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Fed noted that the latest data indicate moderate growth in spending and production. According to the agency, U.S. jobs increased significantly while unemployment remained low. Inflation, while somewhat lower, remains high.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cRussia’s war against Ukraine is causing enormous human and economic hardship, contributing to higher global uncertainty. The Committee [Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee, FOMC] pays careful attention to inflation risks,\u201d the press release said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On January 12, BLS<\/span> published<\/a> inflation data in the United States. The December CPI stood at 6.5%. The core inflation rate fell to 5.7%.<\/p>\n

The statement said the FOMC set a target inflation rate at 2%. In the long run, the rate hikes should help achieve that target.<\/p>\n

For determining further steps the Committee will \u201ccontinue to monitor the impact of incoming information on the economic outlook.\u201d The regulator said it is prepared to adjust its stance if risks arise that could impede the FOMC’s goals.<\/p>\n

The crypto market reacted to the Fed decision with subdued volatility. According to CoinGecko<\/a>, prices of the largest-capitalization digital assets did not show significant movement.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, bitcoin trades near $23,000.<\/p>\n

\"Hourly
Half-hour BTC\/USDT chart on Binance. Data: TradingView<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Half-hour
Half-hour BTC\/USDT chart on Binance. Data: TradingView<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Major cap cryptocurrencies also show positive momentum.<\/p>\n

\"top10
Data: CoinGecko<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In an interview with Bloomberg, KPMG’s chief economist Diane Swonk noted that the Fed remains ready to raise rates further. She said the economy finds itself in a situation where the market is likely to respond quickly to a decline in the indicator, giving the regulator ample room to maneuver.<\/p>\n

Omar Sharif of Inflation Insights offered the opposite view. He emphasised that the slowdown in the pace of increases is a positive signal, as it indicates a dovish stance by the Fed.<\/p>\n

At the press conference following the FOMC meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated<\/a> that further tightening of monetary policy is \u201cappropriate.\u201d He said that in 2022 the U.S. economy \u201csignificantly slowed,\u201d yet in Q1 2023 the agency sees signs of \u201cmodest\u201d growth.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cRestoring price stability will likely require maintaining a restrictive stance for quite a long time,\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Powell described the latest financial data as \u201cencouraging,\u201d but stressed that the Fed needs \u201cmore evidence\u201d to confirm inflation is falling. He explained that there remains a risk of the high pace of price growth becoming entrenched.<\/p>\n

According to the official, the baseline scenario for 2023 envisages continued but modest growth in the economy.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI still believe there is a path to bringing inflation back to 2% without a significant economic downturn or a substantial drop in employment,\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Back in December 2022, the Fed raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points \u2014 to 4.25\u20134.50% per year. Bitcoin prices fell below $18,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, February 1, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points, to 4.50%\u20134.75% per year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[480,1249,26],"class_list":["post-73446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-bitcoin-price","tag-federal-reserve-system","tag-usa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"23","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73448,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73446\/revisions\/73448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}