Bitcoin holds above $29k, Solana rises after Fed rate hike

Bitcoin has held above the $29,000 (£22,320) mark after Wednesday’s expected rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

The world’s largest digital asset by market cap has traded flat since the announcement from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Major altcoins mimicked bitcoin’s trajectory, unable to break-out of the narrow ranges they’ve been tied to for weeks.

Read more: Crypto live prices

In contrast, solana (SOL-USD) has risen over 7% in the past 24 hours, changing hands at $25.15 as of the time of writing. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose 0.7% in the past day to $29,417, as of the time of writing.

The global cryptocurrency market cap today now stands at $1.23tn, up 0.9% change in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

The subdued performance of the cryptocurrency market followed the Fed’s decision to raise benchmark lending rates in the U.S. to between 5.25% and 5.50%, the highest in 22 years, to slow inflation. In a press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said another rate hike in September is possible, but said decisions will be determined by the data at the time.

Bitcoin trades flat, Solana on the rise

The price of the world’s largest digital asset by market capitalisation continues to waver in a narrow range between $29,000 and $30,000. Traders are looking ahead to the Bitcoin Halving event, estimated to happen in early 2024, and the outcome of spot Bitcoin ETF filings with the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

Read more: Sovereign agents: Your own personal AI assistant? | The Crypto Mile

Solana bucked the trend after the Fed’s announcement, but is still sitting on a 6% loss for the full week. The token’s 24-hour trading volume surged more than 100% to over $682m, surpassing that of ether and indicating investors are speculating on a strong rebound. Ether (ETH-USD) moved up 0.88% to$1,874, but remained 0.68% lower for the seven-day period.

Read more: Bitcoin and ether dip following SEC and Binance.US’s temporary deal

Story continues

Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) lost ground after being invigorated following Elon Musk’s rebranding of Twitter to X. The change raised speculation it could be part of a payments system on the social media network. Dogecoin fell 3.52% to $0.0784, though is still holding a weekly gain of 11.82%.

Watch: How digital pound could benefit the UK | The Crypto Mile

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.