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.
Boon for bitcoin?
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.