Powell’s Rate Cut Hesitation Freezes Bitcoin’s Rally—Time to Panic or Buy the Dip?

Jerome Powell just hit pause on rate cuts—and Bitcoin traders are sweating bullets. The Fed’s cold feet have left BTC hovering in limbo, sparking a brutal tug-of-war between bulls and bears.

Market Whiplash: No Cuts, No Glory

When the Fed blinks, crypto tanks. Powell’s ‘wait-and-see’ stance ripped the band-aid off Bitcoin’s speculative frenzy, leaving traders scrambling for exits—or doubling down like degenerate gamblers. Classic.

Liquidity Crunch or Fire Sale?

With macro winds shifting, BTC’s price action resembles a drunk tightrope walker. Institutional whales are either loading up on discounts…or quietly dumping bags on retail. Guess who usually wins?

The Verdict: Dead Cat Bounce or Springboard to New ATHs?

History says Bitcoin eats rate fears for breakfast—eventually. But for now? Strap in for volatility so wild it’d make a hedge fund manager cry into his overpriced whiskey. (Bonus jab: Meanwhile, Wall Street still can’t decide if crypto’s an ‘asset class’ or a threat to their monopoly. Cute.)

Key Takeaways

Bitcoin still sits on $1.4 trillion in unrealized profit. With a key macro catalyst off the table, is conviction in further upside starting to crack?

A pivotal day just closed out. The Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged at 4.25-4.5%. It was right in line with expectations after June’s sticky 0.3% Core CPI.

Powell’s ‘rate cut’ pause puts Bitcoin’s price on Hold—Is the rally over?

As expected, Bitcoin [BTC] remained range-bound below the $120K resistance, consolidating in a tight band. On the surface, it looks like bulls are absorbing volatility well.

But under the hood, long-term holders have started trimming exposure. Could it be that LTHs are front-running macro headwinds that the broader market has yet to price in?

Powell’s pause sparks repricing across the curve

As AMBCrypto noted, the Fed’s hawkish lean was already priced in. Bitcoin’s muted move (+0.12%) reflected a market in balance. No new catalyst, no volume expansion, just chop NEAR resistance.

That said, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s line on a potential 25bps cut in September stood out:

“We have made no decisions about September.”

That was all it took for markets to reprice the curve. September cut odds collapsed to 41% (from >90% a month ago).

Meanwhile, zero cuts for all of 2025 surged to 25% post-FOMC. 

Source: Kalshi

In short, Q4 policy easing expectations have de-rated. 

No surprise there either. Trump’s tariff flip-flops have only added macro uncertainty, undercutting Bitcoin’s September breakout potential. In turn, compressing its Q4 upside asymmetry.

Think back to September 2024.

The Fed kicked off easing with a 50 bps cut, and BTC rallied from a $60k base to $73k by October-end. With that catalyst now priced out, bitcoin could remain liquidity-starved heading into Q3 close.

Bitcoin paper gains at record high, but conviction’s thinning

Bitcoin held structurally intact post-FOMC, but market internals are softening. The Fear & Greed Index is pulling back, signaling that risk appetite is fading at the margins.

On-chain flows confirm the shift: Long-term holders (LTHs) have distributed 207,000 BTC over the past 30 days, signaling strategic de-risking among high-conviction cohorts.

Meanwhile, Total Unrealized Profit (NUPL aggregate) has reached an all-time high of $1.4 trillion. That’s a lot of latent supply. And without fresh catalysts, some of it might start coming to market.

Source: Glassnode

Clearly, there’s a lot on the line.

But with Powell backing off a September cut and markets repricing dovish bets, the liquidity backdrop is drying up.

Without that fuel, Bitcoin could stay stuck below resistance, as profit-taking kicks in and conviction cools heading into Q3 close.