Bitcoin Surges to $104K as Fed Holds Rates, Shorts Liquidated

Bitcoin's price surged to $104,782 following the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates, as market participants reacted positively to the central bank's wait-and-see approach on monetary policy. Although Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that inflation remains "somewhat elevated," the Fed chose to keep its options open regarding future policy adjustments.

The Bitcoin price initially declined in tandem with traditional markets such as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones before reversing course. Data from Velo.data indicates that the price move was primarily driven by activity within the futures market, where an uptick in Bitcoin's funding rate led to the liquidation of approximately $15 million in short positions over the past hour.

Despite the push-up into Bitcoin's $104,000 to $106,000 resistance zone, analysts remain cautious about the sustainability of the price increase. A sustained uptick in spot buying and the return of the Coinbase premium would be necessary to support a price acceleration above $105,000.

Economist and popular crypto trader Alex Krüger described the Fed's post-FOMC press conference as "good," citing Powell's optimism on both policy and the economy. Pear Protocol founder and former TradFi trader HUF said, "Bit of a nothing burger FOMC press conference. Not dovish, not hawkish. Walking a very diplomatic line, and I think the market was expecting Powell to be more vocal about Fed independence and he clarified that there was nothing hawkish about removing the written language about 'inflation making progress.' Powell didn’t really give anything for bears, and bulls took this as an opportunity to squeeze aggressive shorts."