Jerome Powell – the man at the head of the table in the Federal Reserve chambers – is getting ready to offer what many analysts call another hawkish speech, and they’re concerned about what his words could do to bitcoin and the rest of the crypto industry.
The Federal Reserve is at It Again
Over the past year or so, every time the Federal Reserve does anything, bitcoin seems to get affected. In 2022, for example, the Federal Reserve regularly hiked interest rates as a means of fighting ongoing, record-high inflation in America.
These rate hikes didn’t really do much in terms of lowering the surging prices the nation was seeing. However, they did cause crypto prices to tank like they never had before. Also, with so many working-class people unable to afford the interest, they were instantly cut out of the American dream and could no longer get their hands on cars, homes, or items that would require loans as part of the purchasing process.
Right now, Powell hasn’t even given the speech yet, and already we’re seeing bitcoin take a few dips here and there. Shortly after the event was announced, bitcoin fell into the high $26,000 range. Prior to that, it had been trading for about $27,000 per unit. Marc Chandler – chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex – commented in a recent market update:
Hawkish comments from Fed officials and the first decline in continuing unemployment claims below 1.8 million in two months boosted U.S. rates, and the odds of a… rate hike rose to about 37 percent. This represents a near tripling of the probability in the past week.
There is also wide speculation that the Federal Reserve will hike rates again if Congress cannot come to an agreement on the present issue surrounding the debt ceiling. Janet Yellen – the current Treasury Secretary – has warned that if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, the U.S. is going to run out of money and become a bankrupt nation.
Right now, the nation is facing $31 trillion in debt, and House republicans – led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy – have stated that pushing things higher will result in far too much debt falling onto the shoulders of American taxpayers, and they’re reluctant to do as Yellen asks.
More Rate Hikes Coming?
Granted no agreement is made, some – such as Craig Shapiro of La Duc Trading – believe the Fed may step in. Shapiro said:
Seems like Powell needs to take the rate hike odds up again today in order to be prepared to go again… if the debt ceiling debacle is tabled for a short-term resolution. Data remains too good right now with the SEP likely to show a lower YE23 U rate and higher PCE, both of which suggest the dots for 24 are way too low.
