ETH Nears $4,800 as Powell Hints at Potential Fed Rate Cuts – Crypto News – Crypto News
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ETH Nears $4,800 as Powell Hints at Potential Fed Rate Cuts ETH Nears $4,800 as Powell Hints at Potential Fed Rate Cuts

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ETH Nears $4,800 as Powell Hints at Potential Fed Rate Cuts – Crypto News

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Bitcoin, Ether, and other major tokens rise following Jackson Hole remarks signaling a shift toward easing.

Cryptocurrency markets soared on Friday, Aug. 22, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at the Jackson Hole Symposium that interest rate cuts may be on the horizon.

Following his remarks, Bitcoin (BTC) rose 3.4% over the past 24 hours to trade at $116,886, cutting its weekly loss to around 1%. Ethereum (ETH) gained nearly 12% on the day to $4,750, leaving it up 5.7% for the week and just 3% away from its all-time high.

ETH Chart

XRP climbed 4.9% to $3.04, though it remains down nearly 1% on the week. Meanwhile, Binance’s BNB token rose 4.5% to $883, extending its weekly gains to 5.4%, and Solana (SOL) is trading at $196, up 8% in the past day and 4.7% over seven days.

Overall, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization is up 4.5% over the past 24 hours to $4.08 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance at 57% and Ethereum at 13.8%, according to CoinGecko.

Over the past 24 hours, around $561 million in crypto positions were liquidated, including $245 million of long positions and $316 million of shorts, per CoinGlass. Ethereum led with more than $252 million in liquidations, followed by Bitcoin at $108 million.

ETFs

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced $194 million in net outflows on Thursday, Aug. 21, the fifth straight day of withdrawals, pushing total outflows over the past week to over $1.1 billion, according to SoSoValue.

Meanwhile, spot Ethereum ETFs drew nearly $288 million in net inflows on Thursday, breaking a five-day outflow streak that totaled about $926 million.

Fed Chair Speaks at Jackson Hole

The market rebound came after Fed Chair Powell’s remarks at Jackson Hole in Wyoming on Friday, which signaled a potential shift toward rate cuts.

“With policy in restrictive territory, the baseline outlook and the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance,” Powell said during his annual address.

The move comes after months of President Donald Trump publicly criticizing Powell for not cutting interest rates. In June, the president went as far as calling Powell “a political guy who’s not a smart person.”

“Powell’s Jackson Hole speech struck a positive tone for markets, with investors now largely pricing in a rate cut as soon as September,” Nic Puckrin, crypto analyst and founder of Coin Bureau, said in comments shared with The Defiant. “He signaled that the Fed’s focus is shifting toward the growing risks in the labor market, noting the unusual slowdown in both worker supply and demand, which raises the risk of sudden layoffs and higher unemployment.”

The odds of a September rate cut jumped to 87% after Powell’s remarks, up from 75% yesterday, according to CME FedWatch data.

Experts note that Powell’s stance could still change depending on key economic reports due before the Fed’s Sept. 16-17 meeting. If the data shows stronger effects from Trump’s tariffs on prices, Fed officials might hold off on cutting rates until later in the year.

Pickrin added that, although tariff-driven inflation remains a concern, Powell seemed confident that these pressures are likely to be temporary.

“His comments suggest that protecting the labor market now outweighs inflation risks, giving markets clarity on the Fed’s bias toward easing,” he said. “That sense of certainty has been welcomed by investors, helping fuel a bullish reaction.”

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