Crypto Prices Crash as Investors Get Spooked by US Fed Rate Pause But These Coins are Bucking the Trend – Here's What You Need to Know

cryptonews.com:

Crypto prices have come under intense sell pressure this week, with investors spooked by the US Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy announcement.

While the Fed paused its interest rate hikes, leaving the Federal Funds Target Range unchanged at 5.0-5.25%, the bank was hawkish on the interest rate outlook.

Chairman Jerome Powell signalled that, amid a stronger-than-expected labour market and stickier-than-expected inflation, more interest rate hikes might be needed later in the year.

That guidance chimed with the updated dot-plot, which signalled the median expectation amongst Fed policymakers is for interest rates to end 2023 at 5.6%.

The hawkish guidance on the interest rate outlook was a shock to crypto investors.

Bitcoin (BTC) was sent more than 3% lower on Wednesday and fell under $25,000 for the first time since March.

Ether (ETH), meanwhile, dropped over 5% to the mid-$1,600s, where it is also at its lowest levels since March and once again testing its 200DMA.

Higher interest rates for longer, as signalled by the Fed on Wednesday, encourage investors to move into risk-free yield-producing assets like US Treasuries and out of speculative risk assets, such as cryptocurrencies.

Headwinds from a more hawkish than expected Fed come one week after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cast new uncertainty over the US crypto industry by hitting Binance and Coinbase with new lawsuits and labelling dozens of cryptocurrencies as securities.

While the trend in the broader crypto market is bearish, there are a few bright spots.

Here are three crypto projects that have been bucking the trend recently and analysts at Cryptonews rank as amongst the best presale opportunities of 2023.

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