Crypto Markets Slide as Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged

Crypto markets erased most of their weekly gains on Wednesday after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that U.S. wholesale prices rose sharply in February and the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $71,300, down nearly 5% over the past 24 hours. ETH and SOL fell 6% to $2,190 and $90, respectively.

Meanwhile, Ripple (XRP) dropped by 5%, and BNB by 4%.

The overall crypto market capitalization slipped 4% to $2.52 trillion, according to Coingecko.

PPI Report

February PPI rose 0.7% month-over-month, more than double the 0.3% economists had forecast. Core PPI (ex-food and energy) gained 0.5%, also above the 0.3% consensus. On an annualized basis, headline PPI hit 3.4%, the highest in a year.

Energy prices climbed 2.3% in February, rising in anticipation of a Middle East conflict, and the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran threatens to keep inflation elevated well into the year.

Fed Decision

The central bank held the federal funds rate target range at 3.5% to 3.75%, citing elevated inflation, solid economic growth, and elevated uncertainty over the economic outlook.

The statement specifically flagged that “the implications of developments in the Middle East for the U.S. economy are uncertain.”

Officials indicated they still expect to cut rates once in 2026.

Big Movers

Nearly all of the Top 100 digital assets posted losses over the last 24 hours.

Today’s top gainers are Kaspa (KAS) and Hyperliquid (HYPE).

ASTER and Zcash (ZEC) are the biggest losers, down around 10%.

Around 131,000 leveraged traders were liquidated for $420 million in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. Bitcoin accounted for $136 million, while ETH made up $139 million.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded inflows of $199 million on Tuesday, marking a seventh straight day of gains.