Bitcoin broke through the $35,000 (£28,700) level after the US Federal Reserve opted to hold rates steady.
At Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting the US central bank did what many analysts expected and announced another rate pause. The benchmark federal funds rate is now unchanged at 5.25%-5.50%.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose by almost 3% in the past 24 hours, now changing hands at $35,300 (£29,020), according to CoinGecko data.
Read more: Crypto live prices
At one point over the past day, the world’s largest digital asset by market capitalisation eyed the $36,000 (£29,600) mark, reaching a height of $35,875 (£29,492), according to CoinGecko data.
“Today we decided to leave our interest policy unchanged and to continue to reduce our securities holdings. We will make decisions about the extent of additional policy firming and how long policy will remain restrictive, based on the totality of the incoming data, and the evolving outlook at the balance of risks,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a press conference after the meeting.
Stocks associated with digital assets also pushed higher. Coinbase (COIN), the largest US crypto exchange, rose 0.89% on Wednesday, while MicroStrategy (MSTR) rose 0.77%. Bitcoin mining firms Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Marathon Digital (MARA) increased 4.4% and 1.25%, respectively.
Read more: Institutional investment brings new momentum to crypto
Bitcoin has been on a sustained rally since around October 15. This rising price trajectory appears to be partly driven by speculation that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is close to granting approval for a spot bitcoin ETF, which would allow investors to get exposure to the cryptocurrency without having to own it.
BlackRock (BLK) is among the money managers that have applied to launch such a product. Shortly after the commencement of bitcoin’s recent rally in the middle of October, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink spoke in favourable terms about digital assets in an interview with Fox Business. He indicated that the market’s recent response to the digital asset is “pent-up interest in crypto.”
“I think there are more people running into a flight to quality, whether that is in Treasuries, gold or crypto, depending on how you think of it. And I believe crypto will play that type of role, as a flight to quality,” The BlackRock CEO said.
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