Bitcoin topped $64,000 after the U.S. market closed on Tuesday as traders pushed the odds of a second consecutive 50 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve to 50%. Also: Floki fundamentals drive price surge.
BTC gained 1% to trade near $64,000 during the Asian trading day.
Polymarket traders see a 50% chance that the Fed will cut rates by another 50 basis points.
Bitcoin (BTC) showed signs of strength on Wednesday, reclaiming the $64,000 level in early Asian trading, but later retreated, reversing a decline from the previous day, with alternative token Sui (SUI) leading the market higher.
BTC is up 1% over the past 24 hours, while Solana (SOL) is up 3%, leading major tokens higher, according to CoinDesk Indices. Ethereum (ETH) is flat on the day amid signs of a fallout with institutional investors, while BNB Chain (BNB) is showing signs of a reversal after rising 10% over the past seven days.
The broad CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, a measure of price performance of the largest tokens by market cap, rose 2.4%.
Beyond the major tokens, memecoins and layer 1 token staking led the crypto market higher due to sustained demand and positive sentiment among traders. Sui Network (SUI) gained 16% in the past 24 hours, extending weekly gains to nearly 50%, while dog-themed memecoins gained more than 5% on average.
Floki’s FLOKI token surged 16% over the past week as its fast and cheap trading bot surpassed $75 million in volume and netted more than $1 million in fees — a portion of which is now being set aside to buy and destroy FLOKI from the open market.
The developer also said late Tuesday that Floki's metaverse game Valhalla has signed a multi-year partnership with esports organization Alliance to boost users and awareness ahead of its November launch.
Bitcoin traders got a boost over the past week as countries including the United States and China eased monetary policy to combat economic slowdowns - setting the stage for potentially riskier bets in the coming months.
Currently, Polymarket's expectation for the Fed to cut interest rates by another 50 basis points at its November meeting is 50%, while the probability of a 25 basis point cut is 44%.
Some traders said the Fed's move would eventually influence other authorities to take similar measures, creating a snowball effect.
“The timing of the announcement suggests that Fed policy played a key role in the PBOC’s decision,” analysts at Presto Research said in a note shared with CoinDesk on Wednesday. “What is rumoured to be holding the PBOC back from more aggressive monetary stimulus is that this could lose effectiveness due to capital flight, as short-term yuan rates have been below the dollar since mid-2022.”
“It’s clear that the Fed has finally started a rate-cutting cycle, allaying that concern. This means that as the Fed continues to cut rates and the negative rate gap narrows, we may see more action from the PBOC,” they added.
