Bitcoin price today: extends gains to $85k as sentiment improves after Fed meeting

Investing.com– Bitcoin moved higher on Thursday, extending overnight gains as risk appetite improved after the Federal Reserve maintained its rate cut projections and signaled no drastic changes in the face of increased economic uncertainty. 

XRP remained a standout performer in crypto, staying close to a two-week high after the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its long-running lawsuit against issuer Ripple. 

This week’s gains also come on the back of some bargain buying in crypto, after the sector was walloped by increased risk aversion over the past month. 

Bitcoin rose 1.5% to $85,601.0 by 10:01 ET (14:01 GMT). 

Bitcoin upbeat after Fed

Bitcoin’s recent gains came largely tracking those in broader risk-driven markets, as sentiment was aided by the Fed signaling no drastic changes in its policy or outlook.

The central bank kept rates unchanged as widely expected, while forecasting higher inflation and softer growth. 

The Fed also maintained its projections that interest rates will fall by about 50 basis point by the year-end.

But policymakers, particularly Fed Chair Jerome Powell, flagged continued uncertainty over the U.S. economic outlook, especially under President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade tariff policies. 

Still, the Fed’s meeting as a whole offered markets some relief, with Wall Street recovering further from six-month lows on Wednesday. Crypto markets largely tracked these gains, with lower rates boding well for sectors driven largely by speculation.

Ether ETFs see net outflows for 11th consecutive day

U.S. spot ether ETFs recorded their 11th consecutive day of net outflows, shedding $358.1 million.

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BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) saw $12.9 million in outflows on Tuesday, bringing its total net outflow to $137.6 million over the period. Fidelity’s FETH and Grayscale’s ETHE also contributed to the decline.

Total holdings across spot ether ETFs stand at approximately $7 billion, with cumulative net inflows of $2.45 billion since their launch in July, according to SoSoValue data.

Crypto price today: altcoins flat after Wednesday gains

Broader crypto prices remained largely muted on Thursday following Wednesday’s gains. 

XRP hovered around $2.50, holding onto its sharp gain from a day earlier after the SEC dropped its long-running case against XRP issuer Ripple. The crypto was also at a two-week high.

The SEC was widely expected to drop its case against Ripple after a major overhaul under the Trump administration. The SEC had earlier this year dropped ongoing action against Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Kraken. 

Trump nominated pro-crypto lawyer Paul Atkins as the SEC Chair, and has also named a pro-crypto interim chair for the regulator.

Among other altcoins, world no.2 crypto Ether slipped 1.3% to $1,994.73.

Cardano and Solana traded flat while Polygon lost 1.2%. 

Among meme tokens, Dogecoin added just 0.2%, while $TRUMP climbed 1.1%. 

Ambar Warrick contributed to this report. 

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