Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ethereum (ETH-USD) dropped immediately after the Federal Reserve's decision Wednesday afternoon to lift its benchmark interest rate by another 75 basis points, its third hike of this size in a row. It only took about 30 minutes for the cryptocurrencies to cut those losses and rebound to near intraday highs. The quick turnaround, which was also seen in the broader stock market, occurred after Fed chief Jerome Powell said there's a possibility that the central bank would pause interest-rate increases, adding that it will be appropriate, at some point, to slow the pace of hikes. But as inflation sits at persistently high levels, "we'll need to bring the federal funds rate to a restrictive level and keep it there for some time," Powell said in the post-Fed decision press conference. Looking at intraday price action, bitcoin (BTC-USD), +2.4%, initially fell to sub-$19K moments after the Fed's rate hike, only to shoot back up to $19.44K at 3:23 p.m. ET. Similarly, ether (ETH-USD), +0.2%, dipped to as low as $1.32K before rebounding to $1.35K at the time of writing. Given crypto's relatively strong relationship with stocks over the past year, its not surprising to see equities move in a similar fashion during Wednesday's session. In a choppy day that start after the Fed's announcement, the Dow Jones rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 gained 0.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7%. "Raising rates is negativ...
