From June 11th to 12th, the minutes of the FOMC meeting of the Federal Reserve System showed that policymakers were in agreement on the issue of price stability, but there was no consensus among Federal Reserve officials on how many months of good inflation data are needed to start cutting interest rates. Some officials believe in exercising patience before taking action, while others indicate that raising rates is still under discussion.
In terms of data comparison, Bitcoin lost support at $62,000 in the early hours of Wednesday, dropping to a low of $59,515, before bullish forces pushed it back above $60,000. However, bearish pressure continued to push it down, with the trading price of BTC at $59,691 at the time of writing, experiencing a more than 3.5% decrease in the past 24 hours.
Following Bitcoin’s drop below $60,000, the downward trend of altcoins intensified, with all but five of the top 200 tokens by market capitalization experiencing declines on Wednesday. Blast (BLAST) suffered the most significant setback, with a 20.3% decrease, followed by Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Dogwifhat (WIF) falling by 16.2% and 15.8%, respectively. BinaryX (BNX) led the gains, rising by 9%, Worldcoin (WLD) increased by 3.5%, and aelf (ELF) rose by 1.6%.
The current total cryptocurrency market value stands at $2.21 trillion, with Bitcoin’s market share at 53.4%. U.S. stocks continued to rise, with the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq 500 Index increasing by 0.51% and 0.88%, respectively, closing at historic highs for the second consecutive day, while the Dow Jones Index fell by 0.06%.
“More Evidence Needed,” Federal Reserve Officials Suggest No Rush to Cut Interest Rates
Regarding the outlook for monetary policy, the latest meeting minutes indicate that participants noted that progress in reducing inflation this year has been slower than expected in December last year. They emphasized that unless more information emerges that gives them greater confidence that inflation is steadily progressing toward the 2% target, lowering the target range for the federal funds rate would be inappropriate.
The minutes also state, “Some participants noted that if inflation remains elevated or further increases, the target range for the federal funds rate may need to be raised,” while “some participants indicated that monetary policy should be prepared to address unexpected economic weakness at any time.”
“Federal Reserve Spokesman” Nick Timiraos wrote that due to rising inflation reducing Federal Reserve officials’ confidence in cutting rates, some policymakers called for a close eye on signs of weakening labor markets faster than expected at last month’s meeting, and recent public remarks by Federal Reserve officials suggest that a rate cut at a meeting later this month is unlikely.
In his report, institutional analyst Cameron Crise stated that the June Federal Reserve meeting minutes indicate that the committee is moving toward a loose policy but has not yet “overcome difficulties” to make a decision.
“Normal FUD Cycle”
As Bitcoin retests the lower end of the volatility range since late February, some analysts warn that Bitcoin could drop to the $40,000 range as momentum appears to shift to the bearish side. However, most analysts believe these concerns are exaggerated and only contribute to a normal FUD cycle.
Market analyst HornHairs on X platform expressed, “If the BTC price remains below $56,000 for an extended period and sharply bounces back above $60,000, then I would consider it safe to go long again.” Market analyst Rekt Capital stated that Monday’s breakthrough “was delayed as it failed to retest the downward trend in June as new support,” and released the following chart, stating, “Nevertheless, this is still a trendline worth watching for signs of a trend change.”
Benjamin Cowen mentioned some macro impact factors and stated on his podcast that based on the historical correlation between Bitcoin and the 10-year bond yield (US10Y), Bitcoin may decline.
Cowen said, “Typically, one reason you might see Bitcoin fall is that the long-term yield curve starts to rise… But if you look