Bitcoin soars as Powell signals Fed set to cut rates
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole on Friday reinforced the expectations of an interest rate cut in September, as he stated that “the time has come for Fed policy to adjust.” This fueled a Bitcoin (BTC) run toward $62,000 after a 1.1% rise in the past hour, according to Crypto Briefing.
Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) followed with 0.8% and 1.1% growth respectively. Powell’s dovish stance was further indicated by his sharing that the Fed is confident that inflation will reach 2%.
Moreover, the Fed Chairman said that they don’t seek further labor market cooling, and will do everything to support strong movement in the job market.
Notably, Powell’s remarks sustain the content of the recently published Fed minute from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in July. The document implied that a 25 basis point (bps) cut in US interest rates is likely in September.
Additionally, the minute also reinforced a late July Powell speech about a monetary policy change if the date keeps coming as expected. The consecutively aligned discourse gives a sense of security to risk asset investors.
Users of the Polygon-based prediction market Polymarket are even more bullish with the latest words from the Fed Chairman, as the odds of a 50bps rate cut leaped from 18% to 22% moments after his appearance at Jackson Hole. Furthermore, the 50bps cut bet has the highest amount of funds allocated in the poll, surpassing $1.9 million.
According to Bitfinex analysts, Polymarket users are not wrong in expecting a more aggressive rate cut. In an insight shared with Crypto Briefing, they explained that the job data mentions by Powell raised the possibility of a more aggressive 50 bps cut.
