Goldman Sachs has lowered its expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year after the US labour market proved stronger than expected. The bank now expects the Fed’s next two quarter-point cuts to take place in June and December 2027. Goldman had previously expected those cuts in December 2026 and March 2027.

As of 5 June 2026, the US stock market had lost almost $2 trillion in capitalisation after the release of one of the strongest US jobs reports in the past 18 months. Against this backdrop, Bitcoin fell by more than 50% from its October 2025 all-time high, while analysts, investors and crypto industry representatives offered sharply different assessments of what is happening in the market.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin moved into a downward trend as active trading began on US exchanges. According to TradingView, shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street, the BTC/USD pair corrected below the $77,000 level.

The Federal Reserve released the minutes of its April meeting, which markets had been eagerly awaiting. The meeting minutes indicated that officials were prepared to keep interest rates at elevated levels for an extended period and that further rate hikes could be considered if inflation proves persistent.

In the United States, April inflation exceeded expectations, reaching 3.8% year-over-year. The increase was mainly driven by rising energy prices linked to the conflict with Iran. Higher fuel costs also pushed up transportation, food, and production expenses, raising concerns about broader inflationary pressure across the economy.

The upcoming release of the April U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report has drawn renewed attention to the Federal Reserve’s next policy move, as financial markets continue pricing in an extended period of high interest rates.

Last week, the Federal Reserve System held its final meeting under the leadership of Jerome Powell and, as expected, kept interest rates unchanged. While rates remained the same, experts believe that what changed was the Fed’s characterization of inflation.

Analytics firm CryptoQuant, which specializes in cryptocurrencies, highlighted an important development in its recently published data. According to the firm’s analysis, stablecoin reserves on Binance have decreased by approximately $1.5 billion. This decline suggests that investors may be taking profits, especially after the recent market rally.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin remained steady around the $77,000 level on Wednesday as investors cautiously awaited the monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve, while also assessing the impact of a potential prolonged U.S. blockade of Iran.

The Federal Reserve has published the minutes of its March meeting, showing that even amid military risks in the Middle East, many FOMC participants still consider a rate cut in 2026 likely if the conflict impacts economic growth and the labor market more than inflation.

Binance analysts reported a transformation in Bitcoin’s role in the market. According to them, the asset is becoming less reactive to Federal Reserve decisions and is increasingly pricing in future macroeconomic policy changes in advance.

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, a member of the Democratic Party, has requested clarification from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City regarding the legal basis for granting crypto exchange Kraken access to Federal Reserve payment services.

Oil at $200 is no longer a theoretical scenario but a real forecast from the world’s крупнейшие banks. And this is now driving all markets — from equities to crypto. This scenario was analyzed in a new video by blogger Coin22, explaining why the oil crisis, Powell’s speech, and potential Fed leadership changes are pressuring Bitcoin — and what to expect next.

From March 16 to 20, investors allocated $230 million into crypto investment products, significantly lower than in previous weeks, according to a CoinShares report.

Analysts from the on-chain platform Santiment stated that after the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) decided to keep the interest rate unchanged at 3.5–3.75% annually, expectations of growth in the crypto market have increased. According to Santiment, social media shows a rise in “bullish” sentiment: market participants associate the pause in rate changes with the likelihood of the start of a rally.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $73,000 on March 18 after the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released February data for the Producer Price Index (PPI), which significantly exceeded Wall Street expectations.