Bitcoin jumps above $40,000 briefly, as Fed chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is not actively considering 75 basis point hike

Bitcoin briefly jumped above $40,000, a psychological level, as the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks Wednesday after the central bank raised a key interest rate by a half point and said that in June it will start a multi-trillion dollar balance sheet contraction. Powell said the Fed is not actively considering a 75 basis point rate hike but the “broad sense in the committee is that 50 bps should be on the table at next meetings.” Bitcoin is up 5.8% from 24 hours ago to around $39,855, according to CoinDesk data. Ether rose 6.2% to around $2,951.

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