Powell Holds Rates Steady at 3.5%-3.75%, Bitcoin Clings to $77K on Mixed Fed Signals

Bitcoin trades around $77,100 after Fed Chair Powell held rates at 3.50%-3.75% in an 8-4 vote, reducing 2026 cut odds to ~1% and pressuring risk assets briefly to $75K lows before recovery. The saga started April 26 with Powell's handover of a $6.7T balance sheet to hawkish Kevin Warsh amid 3.3% inflation, progressed through April 29's $77,400 stalemate and ETF outflows of hundreds of millions, and April 30's rate pause fueled by Brent at $110/bbl and gas at $4.22/gal. Record net-short futures hint at squeeze potential, but technicals show sideways bias with $71,926 support and $79,423 resistance.