Share this article
Bitcoin Steady as BOE Hikes Rates by 50 Basis Points, 'Reverse Currency Wars' Gain Steam
The race among central banks to lift rates and support their currencies to keep inflation in check suggests the path of least resistance for risky assets is to the downside.
Updated May 11, 2023, 4:39 p.m. Published Sep 22, 2022, 11:30 a.m.
Bitcoin held steady on Thursday after the Bank of England raised its benchmark interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) to 2.25% in a continued fight against inflation.
The BOE's second straight 50 bps move came a day after the Federal Reserve delivered its third consecutive 75 bps rate hike and signaled a higher terminal rate or peak rate of 4.6%.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
No te pierdas otra historia.Suscríbete al boletín de Crypto Daybook Americas hoy. Ver todos los boletines
The BOE said the inflation peak is likely to be lower than projected in August, at just under 11% and maintained that its policy isn't on a preset path.
The Swiss National Bank also lifted its borrowing cost by 75 basis points early during the day, exiting the negative interest rate policy. Meanwhile, Japan intervened in the foreign-exchange markets to stall the yen's slide.
The coordinated tightening, which began early this year, represents reverse currency wars – a race among central bankers to raise rates and support their fiat currencies to keep inflation in check.
The reverse currency wars indicate the path of least resistance for risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, is on the downside. Some analysts, however, believe the crypto market has already taken a beating and there is little downside left.
"Even if central banks tighten monetary policy further, the situation will not worsen more, for the current performance of crypto assets is terrible enough," Griffin Ardern, volatility trader from crypto asset-management firm Blofin, told CoinDesk.
Bitcoin was changing hands at $19,080 at press time, up 3% for the day, according to CoinDesk data.
Más para ti
Lo que debes saber:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
Más para ti
Coinbase Sees Crypto Recovery Ahead as Liquidity Improves and Fed Rate Cut Odds Climb
The crypto exchange also took note of a so-called AI bubble that continues to go strong and a weaker U.S. dollar.
Lo que debes saber:
- Coinbase Institutional is seeing a potential December recovery in crypto, citing improving liquidity and a shift in macroeconomic conditions that could favor risk assets like bitcoin.
- The firm's optimism is driven by rising odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts, with markets pricing in a 93% chance easing next week, and improving liquidity conditions.
- Several recent institutional developments, including Vanguard's crypto ETF policy reversal and Bank of America's greenlighting of crypto allocations, have contributed to bitcoin's rebound from recent lows.
Top Stories
