Crypto Roundup for Thursday: Sentiment Dwindles as FOMC Rate Cut Rechecked
The risk appetite remains mixed, mostly downbeat, early Thursday in New York as traders reassess the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate cut and other catalysts that led to the dovish action, ultimately fearing a slower rate reduction path in 2026.
With this, Bitcoin (BTC) extends the previous day’s loss below the $90K mark, close to $89,700 by the press time, while the spot Gold (XAU) price posts a three-day winning streak near $4,240. That said, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) drops to a seven-week low, whereas major Treasury bond yields face a pullback.
Starting with today’s data, the U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended on December 06 rose to a three-month high of 236K versus 220K expected and 192K prior (revised). Meanwhile, the Trade Balance for September improved to -$52.8 billion from -$63.3 billion estimate and -$59.3 billion prior.
Apart from that, the economic calendar and macro news were mostly quiet, which in turn allowed traders to recheck the previous day’s Fed news closely and sense that 2026 won’t be easy for policy doves.
On Wednesday, the U.S. central bank matched the market forecasts by cutting the benchmark rate by 0.25%. However, the Fed’s upward revision to the growth forecasts and Chairman Jerome Powell’s “meeting by meeting” outlook, coupled with a slightly skewed dot-plot, seemed to have favored traders expecting a pause in January before a gradual downward trend in rates.
Additionally, U.S. Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett suggested that the Fed has room to cut rates further.
Elsewhere, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signaled that the future of the USMCA (U.S., Mexico, Canada) trade agreement remains uncertain, with the possibility that key elements of the agreement may survive, though there may be tighter “rules of origin”. This triggered a cautious mood among the traders, but nobody cared much due to the Fed noise.
Crypto, Equity Update
Major cryptocurrency coins drop for the second consecutive day as traders sense a pause in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest rate cuts during 2026.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Binance Coin (BNB) both drop nearly 3.0%, while Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) are down around 4.0%, but Cardano (ADA) gains the bear’s attention with over 8.0% slump.
Notably, MYX Finance (MYX) bucked the trend with an over 6.0% rise in the last 24 hours to gain the buyer’s attention, whereas Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) slumped 11.0% to attract the sellers.
On a broader front, crypto market capitalization (market cap) rose 2.31% on the day to $3.07 trillion, while the Bitcoin Dominance ticks up to 58.6% from 58.5% during the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
That said, some of the top crypto news are as follows, while more updates like this could be traced to our News section.
State Street Investment Management and Galaxy Asset Management partnered to launch the State Street Galaxy On-chain Liquidity Sweep Fund (SWEEP). That said, Ondo Finance will invest $200 million in the 24/7 on-chain liquidity fund.
Read More: Galaxy Digital Gained $200 Million in Funding, Stock Up 15% this Week!
Elsewhere, Crypto.com and 21shares join hands to introduce a private trust and a future exchange-traded fund (ETF) linked to the Cronos (CRO) ecosystem.
Circle, the issuer of USDC stablecoin, introduced a privacy-focused version of USDC, namely the USDCx, built on the Aleo blockchain to cater to institutions requiring confidentiality of financial transactions.
Cryptocurrency markets witnessed $514 million in position liquidations in the last 24 hours, out of which Long (buy) positions accounted for $376 million, justifying the latest fall in the major coins. That said, 72% of all forced position closures, known as the position liquidations, took place on Binance, Hyperliquid, and Bybit, making them vulnerable.
Talking about equities, Wall Street begins Thursday trading on a mixed note, with Dow Jones posting mild gains, but S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both are facing losses to the tune of 0.70% and 1.40% in that order by press time.
On Wednesday, the U.S. equity benchmarks began trading on a dicey floor, but ended with notable gains. That said, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.5%, the S&P 500 posted 0.67% gains, while the Nasdaq Composite grew 0.33%. Notably, a slump in Oracle, due to mixed earnings and buzz about AI spending, seemed to have dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq the previous day.
- Gold posts three-day winning streak, despite lacking upside momentum at $4,240 by the press time.
- Bitcoin (BTC) extends losses, falling over 3.0% to around $89,700 at the latest.
- Ethereum (ETH) stalls five-day uptrend, down over 4.0% to $3,170 as we write.
- U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) hits seven-week low, down 0.35% intraday to 98.30 by the press time.
- U.S. equity benchmarks trade mixed, as the Dow Jones posts modest gains, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq face 0.70% and 1.40% intraday losses, respectively.
- WTI Crude Oil hits a two-week low, down more than 2.0% intraday to $57.40 at the latest.
Market Consolidation Ahead
Having witnessed the widely anticipated 0.25% Fed rate cut, traders will seek clues to determine the U.S. central bank’s rate action in 2026. Given the recently mixed signals and the FOMC’s cautious tone, the risk assets may face further downside pressure, weighing on the cryptocurrencies and commodities. Still, equities could cheer the Fed’s dovish action amid a lack of major catalysts. Overall, Thursday may turn out to be a consolidating day for the markets, with potentially less liquidity.
