<\/p>\n
Major cryptocurrencies declined on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but struck a hawkish tone in its latest projections, sending Bitcoin from an intraday high near US$66,315 (AU$94,167) down to about US$64,100 (AU$91,026).<\/p>\n
The Federal Open Market Committee voted 12\u20130 to hold the benchmark federal funds rate at 3.50%\u20133.75%, its decision landing more hawkish than markets had positioned for. The meeting was the first chaired by Kevin Warsh, who took over after Jerome Powell\u2019s term ended in May.<\/p>\n The market is dropping in response to the Fed’s first meeting with Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair for one key reason:<\/p>\n We will have far less information going forward.<\/p>\n During the press conference today, Fed Chair Warsh announced that the Fed has “dropped” forward guidance.<\/p>\n He even\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) June 17, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Related: Judge Dismisses xAI Trade Secret Lawsuit Against OpenAI\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The shift came not from the rate itself but from the Fed\u2019s updated projections. Nine of the committee\u2019s 18 participants penciled in a 2026 rate hike, and the so-called dot plot erased an earlier signal of a cut this year, pushing any reductions into 2027 and 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n Committee members projected inflation rising toward an annualised 3.6% by year-end, citing higher energy prices.<\/p>\n For risk assets, the message landed as a headwind. A more hawkish Fed implies a stronger dollar and higher yields, both of which tend to weigh on cryptocurrencies, and traders moved quickly to reprice the path of policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Fed\u2019s inflation concern drew partly on higher energy prices, a pressure point that has kept the committee cautious about easing even as growth slows.<\/p>\n Ether fell about 3.21% to around US$1,734 (AU$2,462), XRP dropped roughly 3.47% to about US$1.17 (AU$1.66), and Solana slid about 3.32% to near US$71.20 (AU$101).\u00a0<\/p>\n The synchronised move underscored how closely the major tokens still track shifts in the macro outlook.<\/p>\n The volatility also triggered forced selling. More than US$150 million (AU$213 million) in short positions were liquidated as prices briefly spiked above US$66,000 before reversing, with market data pointing to dense leverage clusters between US$64,500 and US$65,000 (AU$91,600 to AU$92,300) that amplified the drop.<\/p>\n Despite the pullback, some analysts maintained that underlying demand for leading digital assets remains intact, framing the slide as a repricing of rate expectations rather than a change in the longer-term trend.\u00a0<\/p>\n That view, however, remains a market read rather than a forecast, and it sits against a backdrop of thinner spot volume that traders say leaves prices vulnerable to further swings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more: Alleged Trump-Iran Peace Deal Fuels Market Optimism Ahead of Reported June 19 Signing<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Cryptocurrency,Federal Reserve#Crypto #Markets #Slip #Fed #Holds #Rates #Steady #Signals #Hawkish #Outlook1781766923<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Major cryptocurrencies fell after the Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.50%\u20133.75% but projected possible hikes in 2026, with Bitcoin dropping to about US$64,100 (AU$91,026). Ether, XRP and Solana each declined roughly 3%, while more than US$150 million (AU$213 million) in leveraged short positions were liquidated during the session. The decision was Kevin Warsh\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[62,683,2049,372,450,3417,551,206,1682,2277],"class_list":["post-9956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bitcoin","tag-crypto","tag-fed","tag-hawkish","tag-holds","tag-markets","tag-outlook","tag-rates","tag-signals","tag-slip","tag-steady"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
A Hawkish Surprise<\/h2>\n
Broad Declines Across Majors<\/h2>\n