XRP, Bitcoin Rise. Why Fed Rate Talk Matters for Cryptos. — Barrons.com

By Elsa OhlenBitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gained ground early Thursday even as the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at current levels and acknowledged that inflation remained stubbornly above target.The world's largest crypto, Bitcoin, is up 2.7% over the past 24 hours to last trade at $105,253, according to CoinDesk data.It initially fell after the central bank held interest rates steady at between 4.25% and 4.5% on Wednesday afternoon, but quickly recovered.The popular altcoin XRP was up 0.6% to $3.11, while Ether climbed 2.4% to $3,211. Solana and Dogecoin also rose modestly.The Fed's decision matters for crypto as high interest rates typically lead to lower prices for riskier assets such as cryptos. However, for now, crypto investors seem willing to overlook the hawkish language in the central bank's policy statement.In the past few months, crypto prices have been largely driven by optimism around President Donald Trump's return to the White House. He has championed cryptocurrencies and said he wants to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world.Trump hasn't yet met the lofty expectations of the crypto industry, including the creation of a national strategic reserve of Bitcoin.So far, the president launched the meme coin $TRUMP on the eve of his inauguration and created a working group to study a potential stockpile of digital coins and a new regulatory framework.On Wednesday Trump Media, the company majority owned by its namesake and operator of the social-media platform Truth Social, announced it would move into financial services, including investing in cryptocurrencies.Write to Elsa Ohlen at [email protected] content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.