On March 18, 2026, the Federal Open Market Committee of the U.S. Federal Reserve (FOMC) held another meeting, resulting in the key interest rate remaining at 3.5%–3.75%. This decision aligned with analysts’ forecasts, but immediately after the announcement, Bitcoin prices fell and dropped below $70,000.
This is reported by Finway
Significant Liquidations in the Crypto Market
Amid the decline in Bitcoin’s value, the cryptocurrency futures market experienced substantial losses. According to CoinGlass, the total liquidation volume exceeded $500 million in the last 24 hours. Over 145,000 traders lost their positions, with the largest losses occurring among long position holders who were betting on a price increase.
Context of the Fed’s Decisions and Market Expectations
It is worth noting that the last time the Federal Reserve changed the rate was in early December 2025, when it was lowered by 0.25%. Since then, the rate has remained at 3.75%.
Santiment analysts emphasized that the results of the FOMC meeting fully matched market expectations. According to their forecasts, another rate cut is possible in 2026, with the next change potentially occurring in 2027.
“Currently, traders are anticipating a bullish rally, despite the lack of changes. This is likely due to the bearish market reaction to the absence of a rate cut that already occurred the day before,” the experts added.
It is also worth recalling that ahead of the March meeting, U.S. President Donald Trump urged the Federal Reserve to urgently lower the key interest rate.