Fed's Hawkish Outlook, AI Jitters Dent Crypto Sentiment

Major cryptocurrencies traded lower after a split in the Federal Open Market Committee’s view supported a quarter-point hike, adding to concerns around the “AI trade,” weaker earnings signals from big tech, and a rise in PCE inflation. Overall crypto market capitalization slipped 0.43% to $2.69 trillion, with trading volumes up 18%. Bitcoin fell within a $81,703 to $79,607 range over 24 hours and was last down 0.54% at $79,940.23, down 4.9% over 30 days and 8.7% year-to-date. The Fed kept the target range at 3.75% to 4%, but its hawkish tone and the lack of unanimity weighed on sentiment. US PCE inflation rose to 3.6% year-on-year and core to 3.1%. CME FedWatch put the December 9 hike odds at 81.6%. Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $137 million in net inflows Wednesday.