Ethereum Surges 10%, Hits All-Time High On Coinbase After Powell’s Jackson Hole Speech

Ethereum (ETH) soared more than 10% in the last 24 hours to reach a new all-time high (ATH) on Coinbase after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at possible interest rate cuts during a speech at the Jackson Hole summit.

The leading altcoin’s price crossed above $4,867 on the US crypto exchange for the first time since November 2021.

Following the surge, the Ethereum price has pulled back slightly to trade at $4,737.54 as of 1:05 a.m. EST, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Despite reaching a record peak on Coinbase, both CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko show that ETH’s ATH still stands at $4,891.70.

Powell Hints At Possible Interest Rate Cut

Speaking at the Jackson Hole summit yesterday, Powell said a ”shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance,” sending markets on a tear.

He said the labor market remains in good shape and the economy has shown “resilience.” Despite that, he added that downside risks are rising, and that President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs may cause inflation to rise again. 

Given the Fed’s benchmark interest rate is a full percentage point below where it was when Powell delivered his keynote speech a year ago, and the unemployment rate is still low, Powell said that conditions allow “us to proceed carefully as we consider changes to our policy stance.” 

According to the CME FedWatch tool, analysts put the chances that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points at 75%.  

Polymarket odds of what the Fed’s decision will be in September (Source: Polymarket)

Bettors on Polymarket also have also grown increasingly confident that there will be a rate cut in September. Odds of a 25 bp cut soared 19% to 78% in the last 24 hours. Odds that there will be a 50+ bp rate cut also climbed 1% to stand at 3%.

Conversely, odds that interest rates will remain unchanged dropped 19%.

Trump’s World Liberty Financial, Whale Pile Into ETH

After Powell’s speech, the Trump family bought more ETH through their World Liberty Financial (WLF) project, according to on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain.  

In the last 24 hours, WLF spent 5.025 million USDC to buy 1,076 ETH when the altcoin was priced at $4,670, Lookonchain said. 

A Bitcoin whale that had been dormant for a few years also continued to cash out BTC and buy into ETH. Lookonchain noted in an earlier post on X that the investor deposited another 300 BTC worth $34.78 million on Hyperliquid, sold the BTC, and invested the amount in ETH.