The Federal Reserve has decided to keep interest rates at current levels, maintaining a cautious stance on inflation.
A strong labor market, steady growth, and somewhat elevated inflation prompted the Fed to hold rates steady. On Wednesday, June 18, the Federal Open Market Committee announced it would maintain rates in the 4.25% to 4.5% range, in line with market expectations. The FOMC noted that future rate decisions will remain data-dependent.
Bitcoin (BTC) remained resilient ahead of the Fed decision, recovering some earlier losses. BTC was trading at $104,364, up 0.43% over the past 24 hours, while the total crypto market cap rose 0.22% to $3.23 trillion.
The Fed’s decision came amid growing tensions in the Israel-Iran conflict, which is fueling macroeconomic uncertainty. Rising oil prices could reignite inflationary pressures, which have shown signs of easing in recent months.
Due to this uncertainty, the market consensus was that the Fed would keep the rates stable. A CME Group’s poll showed a likelihood of 99.9% that the Fed would maintain rates, despite ongoing pressures from the White House.
Trump continues to pressure the Fed
On the same day, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that “stupid” Fed Chair Jerome Powell will likely keep the rates at their current levels. The remarks were part of ongoing attacks on the Fed, with Trump urging them to lower rates by 2 points.
“So we have a stupid person. Frankly, you probably won’t cut today,” Trump said. “Europe had 10 cuts, and we had none. And I guess he’s a political guy, I don’t know. He’s a political guy who’s not a smart person, but he’s costing the country a fortune.”
Trump argues that lower rates would stimulate economic activity and boost the stock market. However, the Fed has continued to prioritize inflation control and has so far resisted political pressure, especially amid lingering inflationary risks, partially driven by the tariff regime introduced under Trump’s own administration.
