Bitcoin rose 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 3% to $85,775.5 by 01:56 ET (05:56 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.
Crypto price today: altcoins track Bitcoin gains, XRP upbeat on SEC victory
Broader crypto prices advanced on Thursday, tracking gains in Bitcoin amid some improvements in risk appetite.
XRP was a standout performer, rising 7.3% to $2.4599 in extended gains 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 rose 4.1% to $2,018.12.
Cardano and Solana rose 2.9% and 6.4%, respectively, while Polygon rose 2.6%.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin rose 4.1%, while $TRUMP added 3.6%.