Just last week, President Donald Trump voiced his optimism that the Federal Reserve would soon start cutting interest rates after a private meeting with Chair Jerome Powell.
However, upon the central bank’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged, things took a drastic turn on Thursday, July 31.
Namely, the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark rate at 4.25–4.5%, citing the need for more economic data before making any cuts.
The crypto market reacted negatively following the news, with over $150 billion in market value wiped out in a day, falling from $3.89 trillion to $3.74 trillion.
Crypto market cap. Source: CoinMarketCap
Cryptocurrencies see multi-week lows
In the aftermath, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped as low as $114,400, its lowest price in three weeks, while Ethereum (ETH) dropped 4.94% to $3,628.
Something similar happened in April, when Trump announced his first tariff increases. At the time, Bitcoin plunged to a five-month low within days of the announcement, while the market wiped out nearly $500 billion.
Altcoins took an even bigger hit. XRP, for instance, dropped by 7.38%, while SPX6900 (SPX) plunged by no less than 17.44%, just days after becoming the best-performing coin in the past 90 days.
Looking ahead, traders on Polymarket, a crypto-oriented prediction platform, bet that there’s almost a 60% chance we’ll see zero to one Fed rate cuts by the end of 2025.
Fed rate cuts predictions. Source: Polymarket
The change in market sentiment likely reflects rising inflation worries and renewed trade war issues.
Since the global crypto market capitalization has declined by 3.82% to $3.74 trillion since the Federal Reserve’s announcement, many are left wondering how things are going to play out for digital assets.