U.S. rate-cut expectations weaken… Bitcoin gives back $97,000 in weakness

The U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed·the Fed), saw expectations of a December rate cut weaken, and the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market has continued to decline.

As of 15:20 on the 14th on Binance, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $96,881 (about 147,000,000 won on Upbit), down 6.35% from the previous day. Ethereum (ETH) fell 10.30% to $3,165, and XRP fell 8.73% to $2.29. New York stocks also showed broad weakness as major indices declined amid reduced expectations for a rate cut.

The market interprets that successive 'hold' signals from senior Fed officials are dampening investor sentiment. Susan Collins, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, who has a vote at the December FOMC, said "maintaining the current level of rates is appropriate," and Alberto Musalem, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, also expressed a negative stance toward further rate cuts.

According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch, as of December 10 the probability of a 0.25% percentage-point cut in December was 52.1%, down sharply from 69.6% a week earlier.

ETF fund flows are also weighing on the market. In Bitcoin spot ETFs, on the 13th there was a net outflow totaling $867,350,000, the second-largest since launch. Markets view this as an intensification of risk-asset avoidance.