The Federal Reserve held its benchmark fed funds rate range steady at 3.50%-3.75% on Wednesday, as expected.

Down nearly 4% ahead of the anticipated decision following a surge in oil prices and poor inflation data earlier on Wednesday, bitcoin remained sharply lower at $71,600 in the moments following the news.

U.S. stocks remain lower for the day, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 each down by 0.55%. The 10-year Treasury yield remains higher by a tick at 4.21%.

“The implications of developments in the Middle East for the U.S. economy are uncertain,” said the central bank in its accompanying statement.

The vote to hold policy steady was 11-1, with Stephen Miran voting to trim rates by 25 basis points.

The Fed also updated its economic projections. Of particular note was a sizable rise in inflation expectations — now seen at 2.7% for 2026 versus 2.4% previously. Inflation, however, is expected to drop to 2.2% in 2027 against 2.1% projected earlier.

The so-called “dot plot” continues to show expectations for one 25-basis-point rate cut in 2026 and one more in 2027.

The U.S. central bank must balance what appears to be a slowing employment market with inflation that remains well above its 2% target. Adding to that is the March attack against Iran, which has sent the price of oil to nearly $100 per barrel versus less than $60 earlier this year.

Investors will now turn their attention to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference at 2:30 pm ET for further insight into the central bank’s outlook.

The decentralized finance sector is well accustomed to lightning-fast exploits, with hackers making off with millions in the blink of an eye. However, a recent attack on Venus Protocol was neither quick, nor profitable.

Indeed, the months-long exploit ended with the attacker down $4.7 million… on-chain, at least.

The latest analysis of Sunday’s hack from audit firm BlockSec states that “the on-chain picture is more complex” than the widely-reported $3.7 million hack, and that “both the protocol and the attacker ended up losing money.”

Read more: Oracle error adds to turmoil at DeFi giant Aave

The attack itself was long-planned and involved accumulating Thena’s THE token over nine months. Allez Labs’ technical post mortem describes how the hacker built up considerable THE positions, funded via Tornado Cash.

They then surpassed Venus’ THE supply cap, manipulated the value of their THE used as collateral, and borrowed assets worth almost $15 million against it.

However, BlockSec’s analysis of the on-chain profit-and-loss found that the hacker “invested $9.92 million and retained only ~$5.2 million after all liquidations, an on-chain net loss of ~$4.7 million.” 

Despite the on-chain loss incurred, their payoff may have come from off-chain positions, such as centralized exchange accounts.

Venus Protocol itself was left with $2.1 million of bad debt as liquidation bots sold THE collateral into thin liquidity. Allez Labs also notes that the attack vector “was flagged in a 2023 Code4rena audit but dismissed as having ‘no negative side effects.’”

One security researcher claims to have made $15,000 shorting THE whilst tracking the exploit.

Read more: Whitehat hacker accuses Injective of ghosting after $500M bug disclosure

Venus: Too close to the sun

Venus Protocol is the largest lending platform on BNB Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain), with $1.45 billion in total value locked.

Launched in 2020, it’s seen more than its fair share of trouble over the years.

In September, fears of a $27 million hack turned out to be a Venus user falling for a phishing scam. The protocol was paused and the user’s position was liquidated to recover the stolen funds.

Read more: DeFi exploiter targets lending protocols with oracle tricks

A year ago, the platform incurred $900,000 of bad debt “from an oracle manipulation attack that nobody saw coming… except everyone should have.”

The incident’s post mortem report put the blame on “Mountain’s WUSDM Exchange Rate Oracle.”

In 2023, the protocol braced for the liquidation of $150 million in BNB from 2022’s $600M hack of the BNB Bridge.

Venus was one of many protocols affected by the fallout of 2022’s LUNA meltdown. It accrued $14 million in bad debt when a Chainlink price feed for LUNA bottomed out.

Finally, volatility on its native token XVS led to $200 million in liquidations and caused $90 million in bad debt back in 2021.

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Bitcoin’s (BTC) bullish start to the week faced a halt on Wednesday, as BTC dropped 3.4% to $70,900 alongside an overarching sell-off in US stocks. 

The correction followed a hotter-than-expected Producer Price Index (PPI) report, which was 0.7% higher than the 3.4% year-on-year estimate. Despite the selling, data shows BTC spot market demand holding steady, with buyers stepping in to absorb the selling pressure and proof of this appetite being reflected by Bitcoin reclaiming $72,000 after Federal Reserve minutes highlighted their decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

While the market consensus had tilted toward the Fed choosing to pause on interest rate changes, market volatility in oil prices, equity markets, and persistent tension over the recently started US and Israel-Iran war had traders on edge.

Bitcoin bulls need to defend these price levels 

On the four-hour chart, Bitcoin shows a higher low pattern, keeping the short-term uptrend intact. The price action is holding above both the 100- and 200-period exponential moving averages (EMAs), which are acting as dynamic support.

These moving averages track the average prices over time and define the trend direction when aligned below the price.

The confluence may allow BTC to stabilize near $71,000, forming a potential base after today’s sell-off.

From a technical standpoint, BTC needs to defend the $70,250 to $71,275 range, which marks the internal liquidity levels built during Monday’s breakout.

This zone represents the areas where orders were previously filled, possibly attracting a liquidity sweep again.

Losing this range exposes the next liquidity pocket near $68,900. That level aligns with a small order block between $68,300 and $69,100, where prior demand briefly absorbed the selling pressure.

Maintaining these levels keeps the lower time frame trend structurally bullish for BTC, with higher lows signaling continued demand on dips.

Related: Bitcoin tests fresh decoupling trade as tech correlation drops to 2018 lows

Bitcoin profit-taking meets bid absorption under $74,000

Prior to today’s correction, Bitcoin onchain data pointed to rising sell-side activity from short-term holders (STHs) on Tuesday. According to crypto analyst Darkfost, over 48,000 BTC in profit moved to exchanges in a single day as the price approached $75,000. This indicated that the buyers continued to lock in gains, treating the price rebounds as exit opportunities.

At the same time, CoinGlass data shows passive bids being filled during the drop to $71,000 from $74,000. Similar absorption patterns over the past two weeks have preceded short-term recoveries, highlighting consistent demand at lower levels.

Meanwhile, BTC’s reaction to the previous Federal Reserve meetings added insight. Market analyst Sherlock said that since June, 2025, Bitcoin has declined after each of the last six Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings, regardless of rate direction.

With the markets pricing in another hold on interest rates, traders’ attention may shift to how Bitcoin price reacts around current liquidity clusters, especially near $71,000.

Related: Bhutan offloads an additional $72.3M Bitcoin amid market downturn