According to CoinDesk, the minutes of the Federal Reserve's November meeting, which offer insights into the direction of monetary policy and its potential impact on the economy and markets, may not affect bitcoin and other financial markets. This is due to the post-meeting weakness in U.S. economic data, which has led traders to believe that the Fed's rate-hike cycle has ended. At the November 1 meeting, the Fed maintained the benchmark interest rate in the range of 5.25% to 5.5%, having last raised it in July.
Since the meeting, weak U.S. economic data has bolstered expectations that the central bank is done raising rates, making the November meeting minutes potentially outdated. Analysts at ING noted in a November 17 report that the release of the minutes is likely to be less market-moving than usual, given the post-meeting softness in data. Bitcoin, which is known to closely follow changes in fiat liquidity conditions, traded little changed around $37,300 at press time, according to CoinDesk data.
