The price of #البيتكوين $BTC did not change
A lot on Friday as U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller argued that the U.S. central bank could start lowering interest rates as early as July.
Bitcoin was recently trading at $104,300, unchanged over the past day and down 0.6% since Israel and Iran began exchanging missile strikes a week ago, according to cryptocurrency data provider CoinGecko. #الإيثيريوم remained stable over the past 24 hours trading around $2,500, while Solana rose slightly.
With inflation retreating less than expected in recent months, Waller argued that the central bank has the green light to start lowering borrowing costs, despite tariffs from President Donald Trump, which economists fear could lead to slower economic growth and higher costs for consumers - and tensions in the Middle East that could lead to rising energy prices.
"I believe we are in a position to do that as early as July," he said on the "Squawk Box" program on CNBC. "That would be my opinion, whether the committee agrees or not."
Waller's comments come after the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday for the fourth consecutive meeting, committing to the wait-and-see approach adopted during Trump's presidency. During the conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that economic uncertainty in the U.S. remains high, but has "retreated," amid fluctuations in the president's trade policy.
Most policymakers at the Federal Reserve expect two quarter-point interest rate cuts this year, according to economic forecasts released on Wednesday. At the same time, a larger number of governors estimated that the central bank would not make any rate cuts this year, as their median estimates indicated slightly higher inflation and slower economic growth.
Waller said that the bank should start lowering interest rates soon "because we don't want to wait until the labor market collapses before we start lowering the policy rate."
Many economists feel that the Federal Reserve is in a tough spot, as any action will negatively impact progress on its dual mandate: cutting rates too early may lead to rising inflation again, while keeping rates high for too long may hinder its goal of facilitating full employment in the U.S.
"The Federal Reserve is stuck in a wait-and-see pattern due to uncertainty about tariffs and is waiting for more information," said Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, to Decrypt. "Looking back, the Federal Reserve's forecasts still indicate easing ahead, even though inflation is expected to be higher later this year."
Traders in Federal Reserve futures estimated a 14% probability on Friday that the bank would cut interest rates in July, down from 28% a month ago, according to CME FedWatch. The central bank has kept the benchmark interest rate in a target range of 4.25% to 4.5% since December.
Bitcoin thrived as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a full percentage point last year. Although the central bank's easing came amid the re-election of the first "crypto president" in America, lower interest rates tend to benefit high-risk assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies by freeing up liquidity.
The president himself collided with the Federal Reserve's reluctance to ease borrowing costs amid his trade war, while also pursuing a tough campaign on immigration. Before the Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday, he described Chairman Powell as "dumb."