Bitcoin drops below $70,000 as the Fed raises its inflation forecast and oil-driven price pressures cloud the outlook for rate cuts.
Crypto markets deepened their losses on Thursday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and raised its 2026 inflation forecast yesterday, compounding a selloff triggered by hotter-than-expected wholesale inflation.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $70,000, down 1.3% over the past 24 hours. ETH and SOL fell 2% to $2,135 and $88.5, respectively. Meanwhile, Ripple (XRP) slipped 1%.
Total crypto market capitalization is down 1.5% to $2.48 trillion, according to Coingecko.
Fed Raises Inflation Outlook
Yesterday, the Federal Reserve held rates steady as widely expected, but the accompanying projections delivered a hawkish surprise. Policymakers raised their 2026 PCE inflation forecast to 2.7% from 2.4%, with Chair Jerome Powell acknowledging that rising oil prices “for sure showed up” in the committee’s updated outlook.
The dot plot still shows a median expectation of one 25-basis-point cut this year, but seven of the 19 FOMC members now project zero cuts in 2026, up from six in December.
Big Movers
Nearly all of the Top 100 digital assets posted losses over the last 24 hours.
Today’s top gainers are Quant (QNT) and Pi Network (PI).
Worldcoin (WLD) and PUMP are the biggest losers, down 10% and 6%, respectively.
Around 118,000 leveraged traders were liquidated for $405 million in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. Bitcoin accounted for $145 million, while ETH made up $98 million.
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded outflows of $163.5 million on Tuesday, snapping a seven-day winning streak.