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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has recently made crucial comments that hold significance for the crypto market.

"The time has come for policy to adjust," the Fed chair stated in his much-anticipated keynote presentation at the Federal Reserve's annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks," Powell added.

While he laid the basis for future interest rate decreases, Powell failed to offer the time or extent. However, he highlighted progress on inflation.

Markets are expecting the Fed to start cutting interest rates in September, but Powell made no hint of when he believes policy easing will begin.

Minutes from the July open market committee meeting, released Wednesday, stated that a "vast majority" of officials feel a September decrease is reasonable, provided there are no data surprises.

Crypto markets react

Stocks climbed Friday as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that interest rate cuts were on the way. During his address in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell hinted at interest rate cuts, which were interpreted to be positive for risk assets.

Cryptocurrencies likewise made a leg up, with Bitcoin and the majority of crypto assets trading higher.  The market opened higher Friday as investors looked ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair speech.

At the time of publication, the majority of cryptocurrencies were trading upward. Shiba Inu, Dogecoin and Aptos all increased by 3% to 8% in the last 24 hours, while SUI, Immutable X and Thorchain (RUNE) rose by 7% to 10%. Bitcoin was also up 2% over the past day, reaching $61,665 at press time.

Markets expect a rate cut at the September meeting, according to the CME Group's FedWatch. However, there is not as much consensus on the magnitude of the cuts.