Bitcoin Slides as the Fed Holds Rates but Turns Hawkish in Kevin Warsh's First Meeting as Chair - Unchained
Bitcoin fell to around $64,150 after the Fed held rates at 3. 5%-3. 75% but raised inflation forecasts in Kevin Warsh's first meeting as chair, with a stripped-down statement, even as K33 says a record 79% long-term-holder supply signals a bottom may be near.
Bitcoin fell to around $64,150 after the Fed held rates at 3. 5%-3. 75% but raised inflation forecasts in Kevin Warsh's first meeting as chair, with a stripped-down statement, even as K33 says a record 79% long-term-holder supply signals a bottom may be near. Posted June 18, 2026 at 6:12 am EST. Major cryptocurrencies edged lower on Wednesday after theFederal Reserveheld interest rates steady but released hawkish economic projections inKevin Warsh‘s first meeting as chair. Bitcointraded around$64,150, down roughly2. 2%over the past 24 hours, while ether fell3. 6%andXRPandSolanaeach slipped around3%, according to The Block’s price data. The GMCI 30 index of large-cap tokens fell about2. 6%, extending its year-to-date drop to nearly36%. Traditional haven assets weakened too, with gold off2. 2%and silver down4%. “The picture is one of a crypto market absorbing a hawkish macro backdrop while rotation and genuine demand continue to surface in the strongest names,” said Matt Mena, senior crypto research strategist at21Shares. This story is an excerpt from theUnchained Daily newsletter. Subscribe here to get these updates in your email for freeTheFederal Open Market Committeevoted12-0to keep its target rate at3. 5% to 3. 75%, a widely expected and largely priced-in decision. The weight came from the projections: policymakers raised their inflation forecasts and signaled a slower path toward lower rates than they had in March, suggesting continued concern about inflation even as geopolitical tensions and energy prices ease. The meeting also offered the first look at howWarsh intends to communicate policy. His statement was substantially shorter than those issued underJerome Powelland omitted the forward-guidance language Powell relied on, an approach Warsh framed as presenting “the facts” rather than steering market expectations. Beneath the macro reaction, one structural signal points the other way, theK33report notes. In its Wednesday report, research and brokerage firm said a record79%of bitcoin’s circulating supply is now held by long-term holders, an all-time high. This record shows continued accumulation, the firm’s head of research,Vetle Lunde, wrote. Reactivation of coins aged two years or more has been exceptionally low in 2026, with only218,421 BTCreactivated by June 6, the lowest for that date since 2012 and a fraction of the 1. 18 million reactivated by the same point in 2024. Lunde said the pattern of long-term holders absorbing supply has historically appeared as bitcoin approaches a cycle bottom, though he cautioned a final leg lower often comes first, and other analysts atWintermuteandGlassnodeargue flows still fall short of confirming a reversal. Related Listen:Unchained Celebrates 10 Years! Laura and Haseeb Cover Highs, Lows and New Directions