By holding interest rates steady, the FED provided a much needed bullish catalyst for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the crypto market at large. Could this signal the resumption of the bullish trend?
There have been two key developments in the financial world that the crypto market now considers bullish catalysts. The first was holding interest rates steady within the 4.25% to 4.50% range by the FED after the MAY FOMC meeting.
They argued the decision was informed by concerns that pursuing aggressive tariff policy by the Trump administration may lead to higher inflation and unemployment rates.
The second was a clarification note by the U.S Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The note states that national banks are now allowed to buy and sell crypto assets on behalf of their customers.
Following the statement, FDIC rescinded an old guidance, and states that financial institutions can engage in crypto trading without needing agency approval. This effectively exposes savers with trillions in savings to crypto investments.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Reacts to FED decision and OCC Statement
Bitcoin and Ethereum erupted into a run immediately after the FED announced that it would holding benchmark interest rates steady. The biggest price jump, however, came about early Thursday when the news of the OCC clarification note hit the headlines.
At the time of writing, BTC has rallied by close to 6% from an intraday low of $95,829 to reach an intraday high of $101,527 – according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Ethereum also split into a bullish run immediately after the FED rate decision. It would engage the overdrive and climb back above $2k for the first time in two months. The top altcoin rallied 16%+ from the day’s lows of $1788 and to hit a high of $2082.
Upcoming Bullish Catalysts
In addition to the FED rate decision and the OCC clarification, we expect two more bullish catalysts before we can confidently say the bull market is back. The prequel for the first is the announcement about a framework deal between the US and the UK.
A similar announcement about Canada, Mexico, and China deals would be the biggest bullish catalyst of this cycle. The second would be rate cuts by the Fed, preferably in June, which will most likely happen when the US and China trade war comes to an end.
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