Bitcoin falls below 25K, altcoins drop as investors ignore Fed rate hike pause.

The value of Bitcoin dropped to approximately $24,990 on Wednesday despite the U.S. central bank’s expected decision to halt interest rate hikes, which had been in place for over a year. Other major cryptocurrencies also experienced a late afternoon drop and entered negative territory. Bitcoin has been hovering around the $26,000 mark for the past five days as investors analyze the impact of SEC lawsuits against major crypto exchange giants Binance and Coinbase, Federal Reserve monetary policy signals, and other macroeconomic uncertainties. Joe DiPasquale, CEO of BitBull Capital, noted that the market expected the Fed to leave rates unchanged given the macroeconomic state. However, the initial move was toward the downside since the Fed indicated that this pause is unlikely to last. As long as Bitcoin maintains $25K, it should continue to consolidate, DiPasquale added. Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was recently trading at $1,650, down 5.1% from Tuesday, also hitting a three-month low. Other major cryptocurrencies mentioned in the SEC actions suffered losses as well. Meanwhile, there are concerns that the Fed’s current rate increase cessation will be temporary as it focuses on cutting inflation to a longstanding 2.5% target. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 inched up ever-so-slightly, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 0.7%. Despite these challenges, Markus Levin, co-founder of XYO Network, believes that bitcoin and other digital assets have “likely already hit the bottom” and expects “sideways action” for BTC and other coins for some months ahead.