Bitcoin tops $67,000 as US Federal Reserve keeps rates steady

euronews.com:

Bitcoin briefly soared above $67,000 (€61,544) on Thursday morning, before once again settling around $61,544 in the afternoon. This was a considerable rebound following Wednesday’s dampened sentiment.

The rise was mainly due to the US Federal Reserve choosing to keep interest rates steady at their March FOMC meeting on Wednesday evening.

Explaining the decision, the US Fed said, in a statement: "Recent indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace. Job gains have remained strong, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation has eased over the past year, but remains elevated.

"The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2% over the longer run. The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are moving into better balance. The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee remains highly attentive to inflation risks."

The US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has also hinted that the central bank may cut interest rates some time this year, due to inflation's strong fall. However, this will be decided on a meeting-by-meeting basis, based on economic data, such as labour market, retail sales, inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) numbers.

Bitcoin has had an upbeat few months, seeing several fresh records in the past weeks. This has mainly been due to an increase in interest from several funds, such as Franklin Templeton and BlackRock, following the US's legalising of bitcoin exchange-traded funds (EFTs) earlier this year.

A number of other major funds, such as Fidelity and Charles Schwab also offer Bitcoin ETFs now, which has led to increased speculation that a significant chunk of the rest of the market might