Bitcoin fell 3.7% to $97,002.0 by 00:46 ET (05:46 GMT). It fell below the $100,000 mark on Thursday after the Fed officials signaled a slower pace of rate cuts in 2025, with broader cryptocurrency markets also falling sharply.The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $108,244.9 on Tuesday, after which prices tumbled on profit-taking and an uncertain macroeconomic outlook.This sell-off further intensified after the Fed forecastjust two more interest rate cuts in 2025, against previous expectations of four.The central bank’s hawkish stance weighed on Bitcoin as tighter monetary policy reduces liquidity, making speculative assets like cryptocurrencies less attractive.Moreover, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank has no intention of participating in any government initiative to stockpile substantial amounts of bitcoin. This underscored growing doubts about a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, given the regulatory hurdles it is likely to face.Incoming President Donald Trump had raised the prospect of a Bitcoin reserve, during an interview with CNBC last week. El Salvador’s government said on Thursday it will continue purchasing bitcoin, potentially at a faster rate, following a financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund.The country’s President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday agreed to scale back Bitcoin’s role in the El Salvador economy in return for a crucial $1.4 billion loan from the IMF. Bukele had in 2021 adopted Bitcoin as El Salvador’s national currency, and had even planned to issue bonds backed by the country’s Bitcoin holdings.The IMF had advised the government to reduce its exposure to the cryptocurrency, with El Salvador’s Bitcoin ambitions largely cutting it off from access to global debt markets.Still, the country’s Bitcoin stockpile has seen a large jump in valuation after the crypto’s latest rally.Other cryptocurrencies fell more sharply than Bitcoin, as traders assessed the Fed’s hawkish tilt. With several consecutive days of declines this week, most altcoins have lost all the hefty gains they recorded last week.World no.2 crypto Ether slumped 7.5% to $3,3379.39. Ether has fallen for four consecutive days and has lost nearly 15% during this period.World no.3 crypto XRP fell 2.5% to $2.3009.Solana fell 6.4% and Polygon slumped 7%, while Cardano fell more than 8% to $0.8965.Among meme tokens, Dogecoin plunged 11.2% to $0.3199. More
