Daily Times

Bitcoin briefly surpassed $23,000, following stocks higher after the Federal Reserve of the United States raised interest rates but suggested the pace of hikes could slow. Cryptocurrencies have historically been highly correlated with US stocks, particularly the Nasdaq, which rose 4% on Wednesday. According to CoinMetrics data, Bitcoin was trading at $23,789.75 at 12:39 p.m. ET on Thursday, up about 4.55 percent. Other digital coins rose as well. CoinMetrics discovered that ether was up 8.58 percent at $1,724.76. The Federal Reserve increased its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points on Wednesday in an effort to combat rising prices without sending the economy into a downturn. Jerome Powell, the head of the central bank, however, said that the rate increases might slow down, which spurred an equities surge on Wednesday that spread to Thursday’s trade in Europe and Asia. Given that we now have two months until policymakers next discuss monetary policy, the completion of the Fed meeting on Wednesday creates a summer window for a Bitcoin relief rally, according to Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of the cryptocurrency wallet Nexo.