Crypto price today: Bitcoin jumps above $85,600 after Fed optimism; XRP, Solana surge over 6%

Bitcoin, Ether, and major cryptocurrencies surged on Thursday as investor sentiment improved following the Federal Reserve’s signal that it still expects two rate cuts this year.

The Fed left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, as widely expected, while maintaining its projection for two quarter-percentage-point cuts by year-end. Policymakers, however, raised their inflation forecast and lowered economic growth expectations, citing risks from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

Still, markets reacted positively to the Fed’s “dot plot” of policy rate expectations and Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks that tariff-driven inflation will be “transitory” and largely confined to this year. As a result, stocks and cryptocurrencies climbed, while U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar weakened.

As of 10:36 am IST, Bitcoin was up 3.25% at $85,659, while Ethereum gained nearly 4.5% to $2,020. The global crypto market cap increased 3.4% to $2.81 trillion in the past 24 hours.

“The crypto market got a huge boost as the Fed kept rates unchanged, signaling two cuts this year. The pause in quantitative tightening further strengthens market sentiment. Bitcoin, currently near $86,000, could aim for $90,000 if momentum holds,” said Edul Patel, Co-founder and CEO of Mudrex.

Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin, added, “Bitcoin is surging toward $86,000 after the Fed’s decision aligned with market expectations. It hit an intraday high of approximately $85,950 in the last 24 hours, reflecting strong optimism.”Among altcoins, XRP rose 7.5%, Solana gained 5.7%, Cardano was up 2.7%, and Dogecoin added 3.8%. Chainlink, Toncoin, Hedera, and Stellar rose between 2% and 5%.In a significant regulatory shift, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially dropped its lawsuit against Ripple Labs. This decision led to a surge in XRP’s price, reaching nearly $2.5, according to CoinSwitch Markets Desk.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization surged to $1.7 trillion, with dominance at 60.6%. Its 24-hour trading volume surged by 53% to $37.33 billion, while stablecoin volumes accounted for 94.17% of total crypto trading at $97.91 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Also Read:Can Bitcoin drop to $20K if Nasdaq falls into a bear market?

Tech view by Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-Founder & CEO, Unocoin

The MACD indicator signals bullish momentum, with Bitcoin targeting $96,000. However, a potential sell-the-news event could trigger a pullback to $80,000 if whales exit. Failure to break $90,000 may lead to retracement, with key support at $76,606. Despite risks, market sentiment remains positive amid institutional accumulation and ETF growth.

Also Read:Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve plan: What’s next for crypto? Here’s what experts think

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)