Arya News - Bitcoin enthusiasts, who had been praying for a Federal Reserve rate cut to rescue them from the worst crypto market in years, might have to tread with continued caution now that the central bank had turned “hawkish” after the easing, a veteran markets analyst said.
“I’ve been saying that there’s a price to pay for expectations that aren’t met,” Adam Sarhan, CEO of New York-based markets advisory Sarhan Capital, told Sputnik, referring to the crypto world’s expectations for continued rate cuts into 2026. Seven of the Fed’s 12 policy makers think the US economy would do just fine in 2026 without any more rate adjustments, Jerome Powell, chairman at the central bank, said Wednesday after announcing the third straight US rate cut for the current year. The Bitcoin market on receiving that news tumbled almost 3% on the day, briefly breaking beneath the $90,000 level it had been trying to cling to in recent days. While it recouped that support later in the session, it remains vulnerable, those tracking the market say. Many analysts expressed surprise at Powell sounding “hawkish” right after announcing the December rate cut. Sarhan said he believed bitcoin will find its feet above key support “but things could turn volatile again.” Once the darling of speculators as it went from a few cents worth to five-digit pricing, bitcoin has increasingly gone mainstream over the years — meaning decisions like Fed rate cuts are beginning to weigh more than ever on its price. After a break above $100,000 in December 2024, it got to a record high above $126,000 in October. Since then, it has tumbled to $80,000 on a myriad of factors that include shifting US macroeconomic temperatures, an AI-driven selloff on Wall Street and liquidation by bitcoin “whales", or large holders of the coin. Charts currently show that bitcoin must hold support above $87,500 in order not to risk a sharper plunge beneath the $80,000 levels.