The Federal Reserve stood pat on Wednesday, keeping its benchmark interest rate steady while policymakers monitor economic data and inflation progress that’s grown complicated by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The U.S. central bank maintained a target range for the federal funds rate of 3.5% to 3.75%, the fourth time this year in which officials have chosen to prolong a wait-and-see posture.
As the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran has squeezed global oil supplies, investors have braced for the prospect of tighter monetary conditions that could pressure risk assets. Yet the Fed’s latest decision comes as both sides have touted progress through an agreement.
Bitcoin, the leading digital asset by market cap, changed hands around $65,300, steadying ahead of the Fed’s move but then dipping following the announcement. While down just over 1% on the day, the top coin was still 5% higher over the past week. Ethereum and Solana had risen 7.6% to $1,763 and 13% to $73, respectively, over the last seven days.
In a statement, the Federal Open Market Committee said economic activity is “expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East,” while referencing supply shocks in certain sectors, including energy.
The remarks, which comprised under a dozen sentences, were relatively blunt about the Fed’s yearslong fight to deliver inflation to its 2% target: “The Committee will deliver price stability.”
At the same time, the Fed referenced stability in America’s labor market. Weeks ago, Bitcoin fell after government numbers far surpassed economists’ job growth expectations, bolstering expectations that higher prices were a relative threat to the Fed’s dual mandate.
Wednesday’s decision marked the first under Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who faced hurdles in taking over the central bank’s helm. As President Trump badgered his predecessor, Jerome Powell, to lower rates, some lawmakers refused to support Warsh’s nomination until the Department of Justice dropped its criminal investigation into the outgoing Fed chair.
