Bitcoin Nears $86K, Ripple Gets U.S. Futures Amid Trader Caution

Bitcoin (BTC) inched toward $86,000 while XRP jumped 10% to lead gains among majors as crypto markets staged a broader recovery in the past 24 hours.

BTC rose in early Asian hours on Thursday following the Wednesday Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, where the Fed kept rates intact but lowered growth outlooks until 2027.

Ether (ETH) remained muted after a sudden 7% jump late Wednesday, ending the day up 3.%. Solana’s SOL, dogecoin (DOGE), and BNB Chain’s BNB showed gains under 6%, while Uniswap’s UNI surged 8% as token holders passed a $165 million foundation funding proposal.

XRP jumped as high as 12% before paring gains, as closely-related Ripple Labs ended its long-standing battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stating Wednesday that the case had “come to an end.”

The asset got a further boost in the U.S. as Bitnomial said it would launch futures tied to the token for local investors from Thursday in a first for the region.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the Fed should cut interest rates with the U.S. reciprocal tariffs coming into play starting April 1. Separately, his national economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said he anticipated a 2.5% growth rate against the Fed’s 1.7% expectation.

“The Fed would be MUCH better off CUTTING RATES as U.S.Tariffs start to transition (ease!) their way into the economy,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Do the right thing. April 2nd is Liberation Day in America!!!”

As such, traders remain cautious of a continual rally and noted current market action could be a relief bounce.

“The rally is probably a function of a relief bounce as markets steady back after 5 weeks of consecutive equity sell-offs, and traders awaiting more hard data releases to draw a firmer conclusion on the current economic trajectory,” Augustine Fan, head of insights at SignalPlus, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, mirrored the sentiment in an email to CoinDesk: “Overall market sentiment has been so weak these past few weeks that even Powell’s relatively neutral speech and merely the lack of negative comments caused crypto prices to rally.”

“Additionally, there haven’t been any new tariff announcements to shock the market. That being said, things could change very quickly and we’re advising all of our clients to stay observant and vigilant through the next few weeks and months as we move through stages of volatility,” Mei ended.