What Is the Best Crypto to Buy Before the Fed’s December Decision?
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
With markets bracing for another Federal Reserve rate hike in December, crypto holders are becoming cautious. The CME FedWatch tool shows an 88.7% chance of a quarter-point increase on December 9, and an 11.3% chance of a half-point move. Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) trades around $68,700, down 9.3% in a week and 45.5% below its all-time high.
In contrast, other major cryptocurrencies have fallen harder. Over the same week, Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) fell 13.3%, XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) dropped 15.2% and Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) declined 11.9%. So which of these coins has held up best leading into the Fed’s decision, and which could rebound the most afterward?
Rising Producer Prices Signal a Likely December Hike
Producer prices rose 6.5% over the 12 months through October, the largest rise since November 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That hot inflation reading pushed bond yields higher, with the 10-year Treasury yield reaching 5.10% at the November 12 close, up from 4.98% two days before. When government bonds pay more than 5%, investors might prefer them over volatile cryptocurrencies.
Adding to the pressure, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said that inflation remains widespread and is trending in the wrong direction. Matthew Ryan, Ebury’s head of market strategy, says a December hike is almost certain. A quarter-point hike would lift the upper limit of the federal funds rate from 4.00% to 4.25%.
Every Coin Fell Before the September 2026 Hike and Jumped After It
When the Fed raised rates by 25 basis points on September 16, its first hike in three years, all four major coins declined in the week leading up to the decision. Bitcoin fell 2.7%, Ethereum 2.1% and Solana 2.9%, while XRP had the biggest drop at 6.9%, the weakness we flagged ahead of that decision.
Once the hike was official, sellers ran out of reasons to sell, and buyers rushed in. Solana soared 23.9% from its September 16 close to its September 25 peak, while XRP jumped 21.1% by September 22. Ethereum and Bitcoin gained 14.9% and 13.7%, respectively, by September 21, a classic “sell the rumor, buy the news” response.
However, many of those gains didn’t last. A month later, Bitcoin was still up 7% from its decision-day close, and Solana held a 5.8% gain, while XRP and Ethereum kept only 0.8% and 0.1%, respectively. Those month-after figures settled our September XRP vs Solana comparison in Solana’s favor.
All Four Coins Trade Below Their 20-, 50- and 200-Day Averages
Heading into December, all four cryptocurrencies are trending down. Each trades below its 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages, and all four closed November 12 at 30-day lows. That means sellers lead the short-, medium-, and long-term trends.
Bitcoin is about 6% under its 200-day average of $73,088, and Ethereum trades at $1,928, roughly 10% below its 200-day average of $2,149. Solana is hovering near $80, against its 200-day average of $89, while XRP is just above $1, its lowest level since its one-year low on August 16.
Avalanche (CRYPTO:AVAX) stands out as an exception, gaining 0.9% over the same week while the four larger coins fell. Nonetheless, it remains 94.3% below its 2021 all-time high, so the slight increase may say more about its earlier losses than about new buyer interest.
What Is the Best Crypto to Buy Before the Fed’s December Decision?
Bitcoin has shown the most stability heading into the Fed’s decision and has held most of its post-September rally, making it the strongest candidate to research before December 9. It has dropped only 31.1% over the past year, less than Ethereum’s 40.3%, Solana’s 45% and XRP’s 56%, and it’s still up 92.8% over three years.
However, Solana could recover the most if the quarter-point hike is already priced in, since it jumped the most after the last hike. One Fed meeting rarely decides a long-term holding, as our pieces on timing a crypto buy and the best crypto to hold for 10 years explain. A quarter-point rise could bring a recovery like September’s, while a half-point surprise could push all four coins below their November 12 lows.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
