Following former President Donald Trump’s declaration that he would “demand” interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve, policymakers defied external pressure Wednesday, maintaining the federal funds rate without adjustment.
FOMC Monetary Policy Unmoved
At its first 2025 gathering on Jan. 29, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) observed that “economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace,” opting to preserve borrowing costs while pledging to “carefully assess incoming data” in future deliberations.
Financial markets reacted coolly: The Nasdaq, S&P 500, NYSE, and Dow Jones Industrial Average each concluded Wednesday’s session mired in losses. Precious metals diverged as silver climbed 1.4% and gold edged down 0.25% against the U.S. dollar.
Defying typical patterns, bitcoin (BTC) leaped 2.5% post-announcement. Additionally, the press recalled Trump’s renewed calls days earlier for cheaper credit. During the FOMC press briefing, Chair Jerome Powell sidestepped inquiries about the former president’s remarks, deeming it “inappropriate” to engage.
When queried on crypto, he asserted U.S. banks remain “perfectly able to serve crypto customers.” Meanwhile, experts interpreted his broader rhetoric as favoring a firm monetary approach.
“The Fed’s statement was somewhat hawkish relative to last month, so it isn’t surprising that the knee-jerk reaction was for some modest bear flattening (something we noted might occur in our preview),” Bloomberg Intelligence U.S. interest rate strategists Ira Jersey and Will Hoffman remarked on Wednesday.
The Fed’s refusal to bend to political winds—coupled with market ripples—reveals a delicate dance between monetary restraint and speculative fervor. Especially after this week’s market rout caused by the artificial intelligence (AI) firm Deepseek.
Source: Bitcoin
