The crypto market showed resilience on Thursday, with bitcoin (BTC) trading little changed at $63,915 and ether down just 0.25% since midnight UTC, following a volatile session for global risk assets on Wednesday.
The calm masks sharp back-and-forth price swings around the Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting that flushed out leveraged futures bets and triggered heavy liquidations. While the Fed held its rate unchanged, three committee members voted for an increase. Higher rates reduce the attractiveness of risky assets. About $286 million in positions were liquidated in 24 hours, according to CoinGlass, with longs accounting for $186 million and shorts $100 million — a balance signaling a market that swung hard in both directions before settling back near its starting point.
Hours after the FOMC decision, Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles at U.S. troops. President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran "hard" in response. Oil surged, erasing Monday's declines, and U.S. equities fell, though S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are now slightly positive. Earnings from Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) after the bell could swing sentiment again.
