U.Today – In a significant development, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller has backed a possible interest rate cut at the upcoming meeting in September. Markets are apparently still in a wait-and-see mode, with investors anxiously awaiting the potential impact on digital assets.
According to CNBC, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Friday backed an interest rate cut at the central bank's next policy meeting in less than two weeks. Waller echoed Fed Chair Jerome Powell's statement in late August that “the time has come” to tighten monetary policy, though he did not specify the pace or magnitude of the cuts.
Other policymakers have recently called for monetary policy easing, but this is one of the clearest signals that this could happen at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on September 17-18.
Waller's comments came after a weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report on Friday fueled speculation that the pace of hiring is slowing. The Labor Department reported 142,000 jobs added, up from July but still below the Dow Jones forecast of 161,000.
The cryptocurrency market is waiting for a reaction
So far, the cryptocurrency market has had little reaction to Waller’s comments. Cryptocurrencies saw mixed price action in early trading on Saturday, down 3% over the past 24 hours to $54,360. Several cryptocurrencies also fell, with Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, and Pepe reporting losses of over 4% each. Some assets such as Algorand, BONK, and Optimism traded in the green with gains of up to 4%.
Stocks fell earlier in the day as markets appeared to take a wait-and-see stance, with investors weighing the broader implications of the top Federal Reserve official's remarks. Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies have been closely following global stocks in recent weeks.
Looser monetary policy is often seen as beneficial for speculative assets, as lower interest rates can encourage investors to seek better returns in riskier assets, such as cryptocurrencies, potentially pushing up prices.
This article was originally published on U.Today
