Bitcoin prices plummeted ahead of the US FOMC announcement scheduled for this afternoon.
Bitcoin BTC
-8.87%
The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its policy decision today at 2 PM ET, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to begin his press conference at 2:30 PM.
According to Bloomberg, traders are expecting a potentially big move in the stock market due to concerns that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high for an extended period of time.
No change in interest rates is expected because inflation has not yet fallen sufficiently, CNBC said. But there are also hopes that interest rates will be lowered further.
Cryptocurrency markets tend to react strongly to FOMC meetings, usually seeing a large initial surge before stabilizing. Pre-announcement price action could suggest traders are gearing up for it.
The broader cryptocurrency market also headed south, with the GM30 index, which tracks the performance of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, down 9% to 118.
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Tim is the editor-in-chief of The Block. Before joining The Block, Tim worked as a news editor at Decrypt. He holds a BA in Philosophy from York University and studied News Journalism at Press Association Training. X Follow him at @Timccopeland.