Cryptocurrency prices are seeing a slight recovery from Tuesday's decline with bitcoin (BTC) gaining 0.5% and the broader CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) advancing 0.8% in the last 24 hours. The drop came before the Federal Reserve’s policy decision due later today. Interest rates are forecast to remain unchanged at 4.25%-4.5%, so investors will instead be focused on macro outlook with a potential end to quantitative tightening (QT) in sight. Since mid-2022, the Fed has been slowly shrinking its balance sheet, which inflated to $9 trillion to support the economy during the COVID era. An earlier-than-expected end to quantitative tightening, which has so far reduced the Fed’s balance sheet to $6.7 trillion, could boost risk assets like bitcoin. An end to QT would see the Fed stop withdrawing liquidity from the market, potentially weakening the dollar and making crypto assets more attractive. Traders on prediction market Polymarket are essentially certain an end to QT will be announced before May. Another boost for risk assets came from the Bank of Japan (BOJ), which held its benchmark interest rate unchanged, despite growing inflation in the country. The decision keeps Japanese bond yields steady, limiting the attractiveness of these assets and attracting less capital to traditional markets. Still bitcoin failed to respond. Bitcoin’s appeal as an alternative store of value has been seeing growing recognition. The number of public companies buying bitcoin has more than doubled to 80 from 33 in just two years, according to data from River. Strategy, the largest corporate holder of BTC, has even detailed plans to sell $500 million in preferred stock to buy more. Yet, growing tariffs threats have reignited inflationary risks as economic growth stagnates. The result could be stagflation, a situation that wouldn’t please market participants. Crypto:March 20: Pascal hard fork network upgrade goes live on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) mainnet. March 21, 1:00 p.m.: The SEC’s Crypto Task Force hosts a roundtable, open to the public, that will focus on the definition of a security. March 24 (before market open): Bitcoin miner CleanSpark (CLSK) will join the S&P SmallCap 600 index. March 24, 11:00 a.m.: Bugis network upgrade goes live on Enjin Matrixchain mainnet. March 25: The Mimir upgrade goes live on Chromia (CHR) mainnet. MacroMarch 19, 2:00 p.m.: The Federal Reserve announces its interest-rate decision. The FOMC press conference is likely to be live-streamed 30 minutes later. Fed Funds Interest Rate Est. 4.5% vs. Prev. 4.5%March 19, 3:00 p.m.: Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Census releases GDP data. Full Year GDP Growth (2024) Prev. -1.6%GDP Growth Rate QoQ (Q4) Prev. 3.9%GDP Growth Rate YoY (Q4) Est. 1.7% vs. Prev. -2.1%March 19, 5:30 p.m.: The Central Bank of Brazil announces its interest-rate decision. Selic Rate Est. 14.25% vs. Prev. 13.25%March 20, 3:00 a.m.: The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics releases January employment data. Unemployment Rate Est. 4.4% vs. Prev. 4.4%March 20, 8:00 a.m.: The Bank of England announces its interest-rate decision. Bank Rate Est. 4.5% vs. Prev. 4.5%March 20, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Department of Labor releases employment data for the week ended March 15. Initial Jobless Claims Est. 224K vs. Prev. 220KContinuing Jobless Claims Est. 1890K vs. Prev. 1870KMarch 20, 3:00 p.m.: Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Census releases Q4 employment data. Unemployment Rate Prev. 6.9%March 20, 7:30 p.m.: Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications releases February consumer price index (CPI) data. Core Inflation Rate YoY Est. 2.9% vs. Prev. 3.2%Inflation Rate MoM Prev. 0.5%Inflation Rate YoY Prev. 4%Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)March 27: KULR Technology Group (KULR), post-market, $-0.02March 28: Galaxy Digital Holdings (GLXY), pre-market, C$0.38Token EventsGovernance votes & callsArbitrum DAO is voting on registering the “Sky Custom Gateway contracts” in the “Router contracts” to enable users to bridge USDS and sUSDS through the official Arbitrum Bridge UI. Frax DAO is voting on introducing the WisdomTree Government Money Market Digital Fund (WTGXX) as an on-chain reserve for Frax USD. March 21, 11:30 a.m.: Flare to host an X Spaces session on Flare 2.0. UnlocksMarch 21: Immutable (IMX) to unlock 1.39% of circulating supply worth $14.16 million. March 23: Metars Genesis (MRS) to unlock 11.87% of its circulating supply worth $146.8 million. March 31: Optimism (OP) to unlock 1.93% of its circulating supply worth $28.22 million. April 1: Sui (SUI) to unlock 2.03% of its circulating supply worth $150.22 million. April 3: Wormhole (W) to unlock 47.7% of its circulating supply worth $118.05 million. April 7: Kaspa (KAS) to unlock 0.59% of its circulating supply worth $12.3 million. Token ListingsMarch 19: Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) and DuckChain (DUCK) to be listed on Kraken. March 31: Binance to delist USDT, FDUSD, TUSD, USDP, DAI, AEUR, UST, USTC, and PAXG. ConferencesCoinDesk's Consensus is taking place in Toronto on May 14-16. Use code DAYBOOK and save 15% on passes. Day 2 of 3: Digital Asset Summit 2025 (New York) Day 2 of 3: Fintech Americas Miami 2025 Day 1 of 2: Next Block Expo (Warsaw) March 24-26: Merge Buenos Aires March 25-26: PAY360 2025 (London) March 25-27: Mining Disrupt (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) March 26: Crypto Assets Conference (Frankfurt) March 26: DC Blockchain Summit 2025 (Washington) March 26-28: Real World Crypto Symposium 2025 (Sofia, Bulgaria) March 27: Building Blocks (Tel Aviv) March 27: Digital Euro Conference 2025 (Frankfurt) March 27: WIKI Finance EXPO Hong Kong 2025 March 27-28: Money Motion 2025 (Zagreb, Croatia) March 28: Solana APEX (Cape Town) April 2-3: Southeast Asia Blockchain Week 2025 Main Conference (Bangkok) April 3-6: BitBlockBoom (Dallas) April 6-9: Hong Kong Web3 Festival April 8-10: Paris Blockchain Week April 15-16: BUIDL Asia 2025 (Seoul)

Crypto Daybook Americas: Memecoins Take Off on Tron While Bitcoin Looks to FOMC

The article discusses the recovery of cryptocurrency prices, particularly Bitcoin (BTC), following a decline. The Federal Reserve's upcoming interest rate decision is expected to remain unchanged at 4.25%-4.5%, with investors focusing on the potential end to quantitative tightening (QT). The Bank of Japan's decision to hold its benchmark interest rate unchanged also contributed to the recovery. The article highlights the growing recognition of Bitcoin as an alternative store of value, with public companies doubling their purchases from 33 to 80 in just two years. The SEC's Crypto Task Force is hosting a roundtable on the definition of a security, and several blockchain networks are undergoing upgrades. The article also mentions upcoming conferences and token events.