Bitcoin could drop to between $60K and $80K into year-end if the U.S. Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady at its policy meeting on Dec. 9-10. The BTC price has fallen sharply since the beginning of November as rate-cut expectations slipped below 50%.

Federal Reserve officials held “strongly differing views” about whether to cut interest rates in December, with sentiment among them rising that progress on inflation had stalled, according to a summary of the central bank’s October meeting, released ...

The Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday, keeping borrowing costs at their highest level in more than two decades despite a prolonged cooldown of inflation. An interest rate cut is widely expected in the coming months.

Gold prices held steady above the $4,200 mark on Thursday, buoyed by weak private payrolls data that reinforced expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut at the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week.

Conflicting signals from the Federal Reserve on the timing and magnitude of U.S. interest rate cuts have accelerated hedging flows into swaptions and derivatives tied to overnight rates, with investors seeking protection against heightened policy uncertainty.