Fed Fears, Tariff Jitters Keep Cryptos Close To The Flatline

Cryptocurrencies continue to trade on a muted note as fresh trade jitters and uncertainty ahead of the release of the FOMC minutes weighed on sentiment.According to Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he intends to impose auto tariffs "in the neighborhood of 25%" and similar duties on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports, the latest in a series of measures threatening to upend international trade. The comments which triggered a spike in bond yields, a strengthening of the U.S. Dollar and a rally in gold prices also impacted crypto market sentiment.Minutes of the Federal Open markets Committee held on January 28-29, 2025, are due for release on Wednesday afternoon, keeping crypto markets nervy. After easing rates by 100 basis points in 2024, the Federal Reserve had held rates steady at 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent. Fed Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony that followed revealed a Fed not in a hurry to cut interest rates.The mixed jobs data, the hotter-than-expected consumer price inflation data and a mild decline in the producer price inflation readings have not materially induced Fed rate cut hopes. The CME FedWatch tool that tracks the expectations of interest rate traders shows an overwhelming expectation of a hold in March, a 14-percent likelihood of a rate cut in May and a 44-percent probability of a rate cut in June. High interest rates bode ill for cryptocurrencies that are typically non-interest bearing. With a further easing in Fed rates appearing distant, crypto market trading has been lackluster in the past 24 hours. The overall crypto market capitalization has edged up 0.08 percent in the past 24 hours to $3.17 trillion. The 24-hour trading volume increased 5.4 percent to $101.7 billion.BTC is trading flat at $96,218.50, around 12 percent below the all-time high. BTC is grappling with losses of close to quarter percent in the past week. The leading cryptocurrency touched a high of $96,695.38 and a low of $93,388.83 in the past 24 hours.Ethereum gained 0.66 percent in the past 24 hours and more than 2 percent in the past week to trade at $2,711.95, around 45 percent below the previous peak recorded in November 2021. Ether traded between $2,735.92 and $2,606.90 in the past 24 hours. 3rd ranked XRP (XRP) edged down 0.03 percent overnight to trade at $2.60, around 32 percent below the all-time high touched in January 2018. The cryptocurrency's weekly gains however exceed 6.1 percent. 5th ranked BNB (BNB) edged down 0.09 percent overnight at its current trading price of $656.76. BNB is currently trading 17 percent below the all-time high. The price of 6th ranked Solana (SOL) increased 2 percent overnight. With weekly losses of more than 13 percent, SOL is currently trading at $172.23, around 41 percent below its record high. 8th ranked Dogecoin (DOGE) also gained 0.44 percent overnight to trade at $0.2539. Having shed 2 percent in the past week, DOGE is trading 66 percent below the previous peak scaled in May 2021. 9th ranked Cardano (ADA) slipped 3.1 percent overnight to trade at $0.7648. ADA is currently trading 75 percent below the record high touched in September 2021. The price of 10th ranked TRON (TRX) increased 2.6 percent overnight to $0.2432. TRX has lost 0.2 percent in the past week. The trading price is 45 percent below the cryptocurrency's all-time high recorded on December 4, 2024. 49th ranked Sonic (S) topped overnight gains with a surge of 17.9 percent. 32nd ranked Aptos (APT) followed with gains of 14.9 percent. 93rd ranked Berachain (BERA) added 12 percent and 35th ranked Bittensor (TAO) that rallied 11 percent are the other top gainers. 99th ranked Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) topped overnight losses with a decline of 9.1 percent. 100th ranked FTX Token (FTT), 34th ranked Mantle (MNT) and 56th ranked Lido DAO (LDO) followed with losses of more than 6 percent.For More Cryptocurrency News, visit rttnews.com For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com