Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady, Crypto Prices Decline

The Federal Reserve made a surprise move by holding its interest rates steady at 3.50-3.75% during its latest meeting. In a statement following the decision, Chair Jerome Powell announced that he will remain on the Fed's Board of Governors beyond May 15, citing ongoing investigations into the Fed by the Trump administration.

Powell emphasized the difficulty faced by the Fed in navigating four supply shocks simultaneously: the pandemic, Ukraine invasion, tariffs, and Iran war. As a result, odds of a rate cut in 2026 fell to 1%, down from around 25% last week.

In related news, cryptocurrency prices declined after the FOMC announcement, with Bitcoin dropping by 2%. Big Tech earnings also reported positive results, with Amazon and Alphabet leading the pack. Amazon's AWS revenue grew 28% year-over-year to $37.59 billion, while Alphabet's Google Cloud saw a 63% increase in revenue to $20.1 billion.