Bitcoin holds near $81,000 as Fed stands pat and December hike looms

Bitcoin edged up to $81,084 after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. The decision was expected, but two officials voted for a hike, and reports say a December increase is still on the table.

According to Decrypt, the vote was 10-2, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack favoring a hike. CoinDesk reports that a December hike remains likely because inflation is still well above the Fed's 2% target.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin traded at $81,084 in the CoinGecko snapshot taken at 00:53 UTC on October 29. That is a gain of 0.54% over 24 hours, but the coin is still down 3.72% over seven days. The 24-hour range ran from $80,334 to $81,698. Spot volume was $25.7 billion.

The price is slightly above the $80,440 level in our previous recap, but it has not broken out. Cointelegraph reported before the decision that Bitcoin's bounce was rejected at its 50-day simple moving average as traders waited for the Fed and key tech earnings. You can follow the move on the BTC/USD chart.

Ether and the majors

Ether rose 0.48% to $2,354.55, within a range of $2,324.28 to $2,384.72. It remains down 5.05% on the week. BNB was the clear outperformer and the only major in this group that is higher over seven days. Cardano lagged again, down 9.09% on the week.

Breadth and sentiment

Total crypto market capitalization stood at $2.737 trillion, according to CoinGecko. Bitcoin dominance was 59.5% and Ether dominance 10.5%.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 51, a neutral score unchanged from the day before and up from 48 on October 27. It has stayed in neutral territory for a week, after reading 68, or Greed, on October 22.

News drivers

Strategy approves daily dividends

Strategy shareholders approved daily dividend payments on four preferred stocks, with 99.3% in favor, Decrypt reports. According to Cointelegraph, STRC will start paying daily in November, with STRF, STRK and STRD following in January 2027.

Who holds the ETFs is changing

Galaxy Research found that nine hedge funds and banks cut 68,000 BTC worth of spot ETF exposure as the cash-and-carry trade dried up, while wealth platforms and sovereign funds added, Decrypt reports.

A treasury firm loses access to its Bitcoin

Datavault AI says it has been unable to withdraw its Bitcoin from Biconomy since June, according to Decrypt. The company will restate four financial reports tied to a $150 million Scilex deal, and its stock fell sharply.

Tokenized stocks push-back grows

JPMorgan, Coca-Cola and Dell are among the latest companies to object to their shares trading on the planned OKX-ICE blockchain venue, CoinDesk reports. Nearly half the companies on the original roster have now objected.

For the currency side of the Fed story, our sister site covers the dollar's two-week high ahead of the Fed decision.

What to watch next

• December Fed meeting: CoinDesk and Decrypt both flag a possible rate hike after two dissents in favor of tightening.
• Coinbase earnings: CoinDesk says analysts are divided on its trading rebound after Robinhood's crypto revenue fell 55%.
• Tech earnings: Cointelegraph named key tech results as a factor for Bitcoin alongside the Fed.
• Strategy dividends: daily STRC payments begin in November.
• Canada "crypto king" verdict: Aiden Pleterski's fraud case is going to a jury, Cointelegraph reports.