As analysts have said many times in the last few days, all financial markets, especially cryptocurrency, were focused on the FOMC meeting that took place on September 18, as the US central bank was expected to cut interest rates for the first time in four years.

Once it did, the markets went crazy, with huge price volatility. Here is the aftermath 12 hours later.

BTC is rising

Many believed that the interest rate cut was already priced into riskier assets like Bitcoin. Others, like Arthur Hayes, argued that such actions by the US Federal Reserve would paralyze the market. His words were actually from a long-term perspective, but the short-term outlook has proven to be very positive for the price of BTC.

The asset had already jumped from $57,600 to $60,000 the day before, but began a rollercoaster ride after the Fed officially announced a 50 basis point cut. In the first few hours after the announcement, BTC saw several rises and falls.

12 hours later, when the dust had settled (for now), Bitcoin was up nearly 3% from yesterday and up 7% on a weekly basis. The asset hit a 3-week peak above $62,500 earlier today, but has retreated slightly to $60,000 so far. Most altcoins followed suit, and the total cryptocurrency market cap has risen by about $100 billion overnight.

Liquidations have surged to $200 million on a daily basis, with short positions accounting for the lion's share. Naturally, BTC leads the way with $75 million in liquidations, with ETH following with $35 million.

Stocks Fall, Gold Volatile

Even the precious metal saw increased volatility after the rate cut, rising from $2,550 an ounce to a new all-time high of $2,600 before falling back to $2,545 and settling at $2,567.

The U.S. stock market followed suit with an initial rally, but later showed minor declines. The S&P 500 opened the trading day at 5,641, jumped to nearly 5,680, but closed at 5,618. The Nasdaq Composite saw a similar move, from 17,663 to over 17,800 and fell to 17,573 by the end of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was a little less volatile, but still ended the day with a small loss.

While it's too early to draw any big conclusions, the events of the first 12 hours suggest that riskier assets like cryptocurrencies have benefited from the Fed's rate cut so far. However, time will tell if this is truly a bullish move.