Fed minutes at 2 p.m. may affect Bitcoin and yields

The Federal Reserve’s minutes from its July 28–29 meeting are scheduled for release at 2 p.m. ET on Aug. 19. The July decision kept the target range at 3.50%–3.75% in a 9–3 vote. Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari and Lorie Logan voted for a quarter-point increase.

The minutes cover discussion among all Reserve Bank presidents and committee members who attended the meeting, while only 12 members cast formal votes. The document can show whether debate over a near-term rate increase extended beyond the three formal dissents. The June minutes noted that a few participants saw a case for raising rates, several did not view policy as restrictive, and most favored removing the statement’s easing bias. After the July decision, Chair Kevin Warsh commented that a large majority backed the hold while officials discussed a full range of policy options.

Traders and investors will monitor several market measures after the release. The official Treasury curve on Aug. 18 showed the two-year yield at 4.19% and the 10-year at 4.71%. Spot Bitcoin traded near $64,400 on Coinbase late Tuesday. An OKX snapshot before the minutes showed positive BTC perpetual funding rates and about 32,900 BTC of open interest on that platform. Spot Bitcoin ETF flows recorded for Aug. 18 showed $45.7 million and no IBIT value, leaving the all-fund total provisional until final tallies are available.

Market participants will compare the language in the minutes to prior public comments and the formal vote to assess how widely discussion for a near-term increase was shared among attendees. They will also watch moves in short- and long-term Treasury yields, changes in derivatives funding and open interest, and finalized ETF flow data for further market detail.