Bitcoin prices reached their highest since mid-August last night. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
Bitcoin prices climbed last night, surpassing $24,000 and rising to their loftiest value since mid-August.
The world’s most prominent digital currency reached $24,243.80 around 8 p.m. EST, according to CoinDesk data.
At this point, the cryptocurrency had climbed over 6% in less than 24 hours and was trading at its highest since approximately August 15, additional CoinDesk figures reveal.
Since last night, the digital asset has pulled back somewhat, trading close to $23,700 at the time of this writing.
[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]
Federal Reserve Statement
The world’s most valuable digital currency by market value rose to its latest multimonth high hours after Federal Reserve policymakers announced their latest increase in the benchmark federal funds rate.
Yesterday, the Federal Open Market Committee announced that it had hiked the aforementioned rate 25 basis points, increasing its target range to between 450 and 475 basis points.
The committee indicated that it will likely opt for additional increases in the fed funds rate.
“The Committee anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time,” it stated.
“In determining the extent of future increases in the target range, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments,” the committee added.
Currently, there is a more than 80% chance that Fed policymakers will hike rates another 25 basis points at their next meeting, according to the latest figures provided by the CME FedWatch Tool.
The aforementioned data source provided roughly 17% odds that these government officials will leave the benchmark rate unchanged at the next meeting.
This chart shows 82.7% odds that FOMC policymakers will hike the benchmark rate 25 basis points at … [+]
Late last year, FOMC members predicted that the fed funds rate would reach a terminal value of 5.1% in 2023, according to the median forecast provided in the Summary of Economic Projections released December 14.
In the latest statement, the committee emphasized that it will continue to monitor key economic data as it formulates monetary policy.
One key variable that has been mentioned repeatedly is the strength of the U.S. labor market, which created over 4 million jobs in 2022.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly emphasized the importance of this key economic indicator, and the jobs report due to be released on Friday will likely draw substantial attention.
Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether, EOS and sol.
