The Kevin Warsh era at the Federal Reserve is officially underway. And it’s already making crypto investors nervous.
At his first Federal Open Market Committee meeting on June 17, 2026, the newly installed Fed Chair held rates steady at roughly 3.6%. That part was expected. The part that wasn’t: half the committee now wants to raise them.
A hawkish turn nobody wanted
Nine out of eighteen FOMC members signaled support for at least one rate hike before the end of 2026. That’s a meaningful shift in tone from a central bank that, just months ago, had markets pricing in potential cuts.
The decision to hold rates marked the fourth consecutive meeting with no change. But the internal math tells a different story. When half your voting body is leaning toward tightening, “unchanged” starts to feel like a temporary condition rather than a destination.
