Federal Reserve Stands Pat on Interest Rates, Crypto Prices Rise

The US Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged has sent cryptocurrency prices rising. The Fed voted 9-3 in favor of maintaining its key Fed Funds Rate at a range of 3.50% to 3.75%. This news is positive for risk assets like crypto, which tend to perform poorly when interest rates increase, driving investors towards safer assets such as bonds.

In early trading on July 30, Bitcoin's price was up 2%, changing hands at $64,800 US, while Ethereum was up 1% at $1,930 US. Other digital assets like Solana and Dogecoin were also up about 1%. The reprieve in interest rate hikes might be short-lived, however, as the market is pricing in two 25-basis point increases from the Fed this year, one in September and another in December.

Cryptocurrencies had been slumping amid a continued selloff in technology stocks, particularly chipmakers like SanDisk and Micron Technology. However, with the Fed standing pat on interest rates for now, crypto appears to be rebounding. The next Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates is scheduled for September 16.