Bitcoin Spikes 4% After Federal Reserve Expects Rates at FOMC

Bitcoin (BTC) prices rose on Wednesday following the latest Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting where the Federal Reserve announced no change in interest rates.

The decision will keep the central bank's benchmark rate between 5.25% and 5.50%, and push back investors' hopes for a more dovish pole for markets in the near term.

Bitcoin traded at $62,000 an hour before the announcement, before shooting up to $64,600 as the updated benchmark price was revealed. In a statement, the central bank said economic activity in the country is expanding, unemployment is low and inflation is rising. “The Committee does not expect that it would be appropriate to lower the target range until it has confidence that inflation is moving toward a sustainable 2 percent rate,” the Fed wrote. According to CME FedWatch, the market believes interest rates will remain unchanged at the next FOMC meeting in May, but is pricing in a 60% chance of a 25 basis point cut in June. Bitcoin prices fell from $74,000 last week as net flows of the Bitcoin ETF fell sharply and turned negative over the past two days. The outflow followed a warmer-than-expected inflation rate in the US on March 12, reaching 3.2 percent in February.