Bitcoin slides to two-month low as Fed signals it's not ready to cut rates yet

Bitcoin's price slumped to around $57,000 apiece Thursday, hitting a two-month low after the U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes from its June meeting indicating the central bank isn't yet ready to cut interest rates.

At around 2:30 p.m. London time, the digital currency fell around 5% in 24 hours to $56,837, falling below the $57,000 mark for the first time since May 1, according to data from crypto ranking site CoinGecko. Since then, bitcoin has pared losses somewhat and was trading at $57,932.57, down 3.4% as of 5:05 p.m. London time.

Rival token ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, was down 5% at $3,120.

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It comes after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday released minutes from its June meeting which showed officials are reluctant to lower interest rates until additional data shows inflation moving sustainably toward the central bank's 2% target.

Higher interest rates are typically less favorable for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as it dampens investor risk appetite.

Bitcoin stormed to an all-time high of above $73,700 in March this year after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF.

ETFs allow investors to buy a product that tracks the price of bitcoin without owning the underlying cryptocurrency. Crypto proponents say this has helped legitimize the asset class and make it easier for larger institutional investors to get involved.

Sinc