Bitcoin price today: holds at $113.6k as rate cut uncertainty builds before Powell

Investing.com-- Bitcoin saw little price action on Friday, steadying after seeing steep declines throughout the week as risk appetite was soured by increasing doubts over U.S. interest rate cuts before a widely anticipated address from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. 

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency was nursing a nearly 3% slide this week, as it was battered by a wave of profit-taking after reaching record highs earlier in August. Broader crypto prices also saw muted performance and were headed for weekly declines.

Crypto markets took little support from a report that China was considering developing state-back, yuan-based stablecoins to boost trading in the yuan. The country effectively banned all crypto trade in 2021. 

Bitcoin was nearly unchanged at $113,630.0 by 10:01 ET (14:01 GMT). 

Bitcoin declines amid waning rate cut bets; Powell awaited 

Bitcoin’s recent losses came amid a broader deterioration in risk appetite, as markets steadily priced down expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates in September. 

Fed Fund futures pricing showed markets pricing in a 73.1% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in September, down sharply from an over 90% chance seen last week, CME Fedwatch showed. 

The minutes of the Fed’s late-July meeting, released earlier this week, showed a bulk of central bank members supported keeping rates steady in the near-term.

Powell, who will speak at the Jackson Hole Symposium later on Friday, has remained largely non-commital towards any future rate cuts, citing uncertainty over the inflationary impact of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. 

Some signs of resilience in the U.S. economy, as seen with stronger-than-expected purchasing managers index data for August, also weighed on expectations for rate cuts. 

High for longer interest rates bode poorly for speculative assets such as crypto, given that they in part limit liquidity and also discourage speculative investment. Bitcoin had clocked deep losses as the Fed raised interest rates through 2022 and 2023, and rallied sharply as the Fed began easing in 2024. 

Ripple and SBI target Japan’s stablecoin market with RLUSD launch

Ripple and SBI Holdings plan to launch the RLUSD stablecoin in Japan by early next year, taking advantage of the country’s new stablecoin laws that open the market to foreign issuers.

The token will be distributed through SBI VC Trade, the group’s licensed crypto exchange, under a memorandum of understanding, Ripple said late Thursday.

Ripple’s entry would enhance the “reliability and convenience of stablecoins in the Japanese market,” SBI VC Trade CEO Tomohiko Kondo said.

Japan amended its Payment Services Act in June 2023 to establish a licensing regime for electronic payment instruments, following an initial framework passed in 2022.

From next year, only licensed fund transfer providers or trust banks can issue or distribute fiat-pegged stablecoins.

The framework is being refined further through amendments rolling out by 2026, including relaxed reserve requirements and updated licensing tiers, Asia Business Law Journal reported.

Crypto price today: altcoins largely down, head for weekly losses amid rate angst

Most altcoins fell on Friday and were also headed for weekly losses amid extended profit-taking from August peaks. 

World no.2 crypto Ether rose over 3% to $4,418.87, and was trading down 0.8% this week.

XRP was nearly unchanged at $2.90, and was set to lose around 5% this week.

Cardano and Solana shed 3.7% and 0.4%, respectively, and were trading down 9% and 3% this week. 

Among meme coins, Dogecoin and $TRUMP each fell less than 1%.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.)