Bitcoin remained under pressure on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since 2023, while Chair Kevin Warsh signaled that the fight against inflation is not over yet.

At the time of writing, the largest cryptocurrency was trading at $75,748, down 0.28% over the past 24 hours and 3.32% for the week. Ethereum stood at $2,398.56, BNB at $716.84, XRP at $1.29, Solana at $97.71, and Dogecoin at $0.0800, market data showed.
The broader crypto market also remains under pressure. Its total capitalization is around $2.58 trillion, representing a 0.28% decline over the past 24 hours.
The fear and greed index stands at 62 points, still in the “greed” zone despite weakness among leading assets.
The Fed opened the door to another hike
The FOMC unanimously raised the federal funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00%. However, the more important signal for markets came from the central bank’s updated projections.
A total of 16 of the Fed’s 18 officials expect at least one more 25-basis-point hike by the end of 2026, while only two foresee rates remaining at their current level. The median projection puts the range at 4.00%-4.25% at the end of the year and at the same level at the end of 2027.
This is an important shift for the crypto market, which is sensitive to dollar liquidity conditions and the cost of capital. Higher interest rates increase the yields on low-risk assets and can limit appetite for more volatile investments such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The market has already begun reassessing the next meeting. The probability of another hike in October rose to 56.5% from 54% immediately before the September decision.
Warsh: Inflation is the problem
Warsh’s post-meeting message further cooled hopes for a quick return to lower interest rates. The Fed chair said that the U.S. economy had strengthened since the last meeting in June, while the labor market was operating at practically full employment. At the same time, the inflation picture had barely improved.
Warsh identified inflation as the main problem and said that price stability has remained a challenge for more than five years. He added that he would find it difficult to describe overall financial conditions as restrictive and that the latest hike removes some of the remaining stimulus from the system.
This continues the line Warsh set out even before the meeting, when he warned that the Fed still had work to do if inflation does not clearly and quickly enough return to the 2% target.
The crypto market remains vulnerable to higher interest rates
The reaction among cryptocurrencies shows that the hike itself was largely expected, but the prospect of prolonged tightening remains the more significant risk.
The derivatives market also shows heightened stress. Total liquidations over the past 24 hours reached around $319.68 million, of which $158.44 million were long positions and $161.24 million were shorts. Open interest remains high at around $453.04 billion, preserving the potential for sharper moves if expectations for interest rates change again.
For Bitcoin, the next macroeconomic risk is no longer the September hike itself. The market must assess whether the Fed will actually deliver the additional tightening outlined in its projections. With inflation still not showing sufficient improvement, according to Warsh, the prospect of higher interest rates for longer remains a key factor for liquidity and risk appetite in the crypto sector.