Boston Fed's Collins Backs Higher Rates as Bitcoin Slips Under $70K

Collins made the case for tighter monetary policy in a November 13 speech at the Boston Fed's 70th Economic Conference. She conceded that the higher rates sometimes needed to cool the economy make homes more expensive to buy and to build, but argued price stability pays off over the longer term. "Tighter policy is needed at times to ensure price stability," she said.

Her timing landed hard on crypto. Bitcoin fell below $70,000 that same day, trading near $69,300 as selling spread across risk assets. Ethereum slid toward $1,950, and tech stocks sagged alongside them. Higher rates make Treasuries and other yield-paying investments more tempting, sapping appetite for assets that don't hand out fixed income.

The pressure traces back to October's inflation report. Consumer prices rose 0.4%, topping the 0.3% economists expected, while core inflation — stripping out food and energy — climbed 0.3% against a 0.2% forecast. As crypto.news previously reported, Bitcoin fell below $74,000 on November 10 after those numbers landed.

Traders are pricing in more tightening. Polymarket bettors on November 10 gave an 85% probability to a quarter-point hike in December, with another 12.7% on something bigger. Deutsche Bank expects three straight quarter-point hikes in December, January and March, which would lift the federal funds target range to 4.50%–4.75%.

Institutions are already pulling back. US spot Bitcoin ETFs logged $299.9 million in net withdrawals on November 11, with BlackRock's IBIT responsible for $269.73 million of it. That stretched total outflows to roughly $1.44 billion over five straight trading sessions, while Ethereum ETFs shed another $144.81 million the same day.

Collins also flagged a housing squeeze beyond the mortgage math. Employers across New England, she said, have struggled to hire because suitable housing is unavailable or too costly — with physicians, mechanics, scientists and hospitality workers turning down jobs they couldn't afford to take. Investors get the Fed's October meeting minutes on November 18, the October PCE inflation report on November 25, and the next rate decision on December 9.