bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were on pause wednesday as traders awaited a key decision on interest rates from the federal reserve after the best january for bitcoin in a decade bad news out of the central bank has the potential to start february off on a sour note the price of bitcoin has risen less than 1 over the past 24 hours hovering around 23000 the largest digital asset has roared higher to start the year gaining 40 as cryptos benefited from an improvement in investors’ appetite for risk while bitcoin remains at just a third of its late2021 high traders are increasingly optimistic that the bottom of a brutal bear market already has been hit—in the wake of the shock bankruptcy of ftx in november—and that cryptos are poised to march higher