At the first FOMC meeting after the U.S. presidential elections, the U.S. central bank reduced interest rates by 25 basis points, which was what the market and experts expected.
The price of bitcoin, which is usually very sensitive to news related to the U.S., was already at its highest levels just below $77,000.
This was a significant week for the world’s largest economy as the nation elected a new president on Tuesday, representing a completely different direction for the next four years.
The Federal Reserve was set to host the first FOMC meeting since September when it lowered interest rates by 0.5 percent.
Most market analysts and experts had predicted a modest reduction of 25 basis points during the November meeting, as announced by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. This brought rates down to 4.5 – 4.75 percent.
The central bank based its decision on the decline in the inflation rate in the country and confirmed its goal to bring it down to two percent in the coming months.
Since most experts expected such a move from the Fed, it seemed that the markets had already priced it in. There were no significant movements for bitcoin a few minutes after the decision was announced. The largest cryptocurrency reached a new peak at $76,800.
Bitcoin exploded when Donald Trump took the lead in the presidential elections earlier this week and broke its record from March when all signs began pointing to his return to the White House. Bitcoin is currently up over nine percent in the last 7 days and more than 22 percent over the past 30 days. Its market capitalization is significantly above $1.5 trillion, making it the 9th largest global financial asset.
