On March 20th, the United States Federal Reserve maintained its key interest rate range at 5.25–5.5% per annum.
The decision aligned with market expectations. According to the Federal Reserve, inflation has decreased over the past year but remains high. The agency also noted the low unemployment rate. In the long term, the Federal Reserve aims for 2% inflation and maximum employment.
On March 12th, the U.S. consumer price index increased from 3.1% to 3.2% over the month.
The cryptocurrency market showed little reaction to the news. According to CoinGecko, the prices of the largest digital assets by market capitalization showed no significant movement.
Bitcoin continued to trade around the $64,000 level.
Back in July 2023, the Federal Reserve raised the key rate to 5.25-5.5% per annum. Since then, the rate has remained unchanged.
In early March, Grayscale analysts identified inflation and the high Federal Reserve rate as barriers to Bitcoin’s growth.