Bitcoin Plunges, Reclaims $100K Amid Fed Caution On Rate Cuts

Bitcoin plunged after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will be “cautious” on rate cuts in coming months, but bounced back above $100K even as meme coins plummeted.

Following the Fed’s announcement of a 0.25% interest rate cut on Dec. 18, BTC briefly dipped below six figures as Powell said the central bank will likely slow monetary easing in the coming months, a more cautious stance that spooked digital asset investors.

While BTC dropped to a low of $98,792.67 in the last 24 hours, meme coins plummeted more than 8% with Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Pepe (PEPE) all suffering steep declines. Bitcoin is trading down 2.4% at $101,738 as of 4:14 a.m. EST.

Meme Coin Bloodbath Sees Leaders DOGE, SHIB, PEPE And BONK All Plunge

The overall crypto market tumbled more than 3% to a market cap of $3.52 trillion.

Meme coins felt the brunt of the sell off in the digital asset space. Canine-themed Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) saw their prices fall more than 5% and 6%, respectively. Frog-themed Pepe (PEPE) as well as Solana meme coins Bonk (BONK) and Dogwifhat (WIF) underwent a more than 10% correction. 

JUST IN: The Federal Reserve cut interest rates (as expected) by a quarter point to 4.25 to 4.5%.

1 person voted against the cut.

***The big news is the Fed projects higher inflation in 2025 and only 2 interest rate cuts next year*** pic.twitter.com/mzsRh3Z6ea

— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) December 18, 2024

Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) and Fartcoin (FART) were the only major meme by market cap coins to buck the bearish trend in the last 24 hours. New entrant PENGU rose 13% while FARTCOIN soared over 16%.

Floki (FLOKI) recorded the biggest drop among the top 10 meme coins with a more than 13% correction, while Brett (BRETT) and Mog Coin (MOG) also tumbled. 

Crypto Fear And Greed Index Remains High Despite Jerome Powell Warning

Data from CoinGlass shows that more than $659.68 million worth of long positions were liquidated in the last 24 hour, most after Powell’s speech.

Despite the drop in the crypto market, investor sentiment remains bullish even if it is on a downtrend. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stands at 75, signaling “Greed.” This comes after the index dropped from an “Extreme Greed” reading of 81 yesterday.

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