Fed holds rates as hawkish signal puts Bitcoin in focus

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady on October 28, but two officials dissented in favor of an immediate increase and Chair Kevin Warsh emphasized that inflation remains above the central bank’s target. The decision and its hawkish message have focused attention on the possibility of further tightening and the potential effect on Bitcoin and other risk-sensitive assets. The Fed voted 10-2 to maintain its target range at 3.75% to 4%. Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack favored raising rates by a quarter percentage point. Warsh said the central bank remained responsible for bringing inflation down to its 2% goal, but declined to predict whether rates would rise at the December meeting, saying conditions could change before then. CME FedWatch data as of Wednesday showed traders assigning a 78.4% probability to a quarter-point increase by December and a 67.3% probability of at least a quarter-point increase by March. Those figures reflect market expectations, not a decision by the Fed. The sources identify the next policy meeting as December 8-9. Iggy Ioppe, chief investment officer at tokenization platform Theo, said investors had...