Bitcoin price today: muted at $113.2k amid Fed rate caution

Investing.com-- Bitcoin remained flat on Wednesday, continuing its bearish trend sparked by a sharp wave of liquidations earlier this week, while traders weighed cautious remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and looked ahead to key U.S. inflation data.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency last traded 0.8% higher at $113,240 as of 09:48 ET (13:48 GMT), hovering near its lowest level in two weeks.

Bitcoin holds losses after a liquidation wave; Fed outlook in focus

Bitcoin fell nearly 3% at one point on Monday as roughly $1.5 billion of crypto positions were liquidated in a single day.

The wipeout, the biggest since March, triggered forced selling across derivatives markets, leading to sharp losses on Ethereum and other altcoins.

The sell-off was intensified by traders holding directional bets via options contracts that benefit from sharp swings, reports showed.

The rout came just days after Bitcoin and other digital assets had initially rallied on the Fed’s quarter-point rate cut last week, the first easing in months.

That optimism proved short-lived, with risk appetite reversing on the Fed’s cautious approach to the policy outlook.

In a speech, Fed Chair Powell said the central bank must tread carefully in weighing further reductions to borrowing costs.

He acknowledged that a softer labor market could allow more easing, but warned that cutting too aggressively risked undermining progress on inflation.

Attention now turns to Friday’s release of the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.

Tether plans to raise up to $20 bln at $500 bln valuation - Bloomberg

Tether, the El Salvador-based firm behind the USDT stablecoin, is in early talks to raise $15–20 billion via a private placement that could value the company at about US$500 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

The proposed deal would involve selling roughly a 3% stake, the report said.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said on Wednesday that the company is evaluating a capital raise from a group of high-profile investors

Crypto price today: altcoins also rangebound

Most altcoins also remained rangebound after sharp losses at the start of the week.

World no.2 crypto Ethereum was marginally down at $4,181.14, remaining at its lowest level in more than a month.

World no. 3 crypto XRP added 0.7% to $2.88.

Solana dropped 3.3%, while Cardano and Polygon both traded flat. 

Among meme tokens, Dogecoin rose 2.1%, while $TRUMP added 0.5%. 

(Ayushman Ojha contributed to this report.)