Bitcoin Rises Above $62K After Fed Cuts Rate

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk's daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context.

Bitcoin rose above $62,000 on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points, a move that had a mixed impact on asset classes and left traders warning the crypto rally could be short lived.

Bitcoin added around 4.35% in the last 24 hours, trading at $62,521.19 at the time of writing. The digital asset market at large rose over 5%, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20). Leading altcoins ETH and SOL led the gains, up 5.8% and 7.4%, respectively.

The U.S. central bank cut interest rates for the first time since March 2020, in a bid to stimulate the slowing economy. The rate cut appeared to have the desired effect on crypto markets, with bitcoin rising steadily throughout the day.

However, traders warned the rally could be short lived, given the larger economic picture of slowing growth and geopolitical uncertainty.

Presto Research noted the mixed reaction across asset classes to the rate cut, which demonstrates that “growth concerns clearly exist.” Arthur Hayes, CIO of Maelstrom, argued that rate cuts will fuel inflation, which could see markets falter and then “they're just going to do more of it and they’re going to make the problem even worse.”

Crypto Finance, a fully owned subsidiary of Germany's largest stock exchange operator, signed a deal with Commerzbank to offer trading services to the lender's corporate clients.

The move comes just two weeks after Crypto Finance struck a similar agreement with Zürcher Kantonalbank in Switzerland. The trading service offered by the Deutsche Boerse unit will be available to clients based in Germany and will initially focus on trading in the two largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether.

Commerzbank obtained a crypto custody license in Germany in November 2023, allowing the financial services firm to offer a wide range of services related to digital assets. The bank also plans to apply for a license to trade cryptocurrencies in 2024.

Latest Prices

CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,925.79 +5.55%

Bitcoin (BTC): $62,521.19 +4.22%

Ether (ETH): $2,428.37 +5.2%

S&P 500: 5,618.26 -0.29%

Gold: $2,585.66 +1.03%

Nikkei 225: 37,155.33 +2.13%