Bitcoin Price on the Rise After First Fed Rate Cut Since 2008

Bitcoin (BTC) has eked out moderate gains amid the U.S. Federal Reserve’s announcement of its first rate cut in over a decade.

The top cryptocurrency by market value is currently trading at $9,950 on Bitstamp, representing a 2 percent gain on a 24-hour basis.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday said it will lower interest rates by 0.25 percent to cushion the economy from a global slowdown and trade tensions. That was the first U.S. interest rate cut since the great financial crisis of 2008, and indeed since the creation of bitcoin in 2009.

BTC rose by over $200 to $10,000 in the three hours leading up to the Fed’s announcement at 18:00 UTC. More importantly, the cryptocurrency remained bid in the following hours and hit a high of $10,172, according to Bitstamp data.

The price action seems to have convinced investors that BTC picked up a bid due to Fed’s rate cut.

Some observers believe rate cuts by the Fed bode well for BTC.

This is because an interest rate cut reduces the yield on a currency. Further, the liquidity added to the economy via rate cuts often leads to inflation and loss of purchasing power of the currency.

Put simply, falling interest rates mean fewer reasons to hold U.S. dollars, as pointed out by Alan Silbert, executive managing director at INX Trading Platform.

Silbert believes the Fed will deliver more rate cuts in the near future. The central bank, however, refrained from signaled further easing yesterday.

The Fed has cut rates less than 12 months away from bitcoin’s mining reward halving – a process aimed at curbing inflation by reducing reward for mining on the blockchain by 50 percent every four years.

Essentially, BTC’s monetary policy is on a preset path – its supply is halved every four years.

The monetary policy divergence would widen further if the Fed embarks on a full-blown easing cycle, as anticipated by Silbert. That would further strengthen bitcoin’s appeal as store of value and may bolster the bull market.

As for the next 24 hours, bitcoin looks set to test key average located at $10,500.

BTC rose above $10,000 yesterday, validating the seller exhaustion signaled by the long-tailed doji created on the 4-hour chart on July 28.

That bullish doji reversal indicates that the sell-off from recent highs above $13,000 has ended and the path of least resistance is to the higher side. The descending triangle breakout confirmed yesterday also indicates a bull reversal.

Notably, buying volumes picked up following the price breakout. The green volume bar created in the four hours to 16:00 UTC yesterday was the highest since July 19.

Hence, the cryptocurrency may rise toward $10,500 (50-day moving average) over the next day or two. However, the outlook as per the daily chart would turn bullish only if and when BTC invalidates the bearish lower-highs pattern with a move above $11,120.

The case for a rise to the 50-day MA in the next 24 hours would weaken if prices find acceptance below yesterday’s low of $9,574, although that looks unlikely.

Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.

Bitcoin and dollars image via Shutterstock; charts by Trading View