Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week struggling to preserve support as key macro changes appear on the horizon.
In what could turn out to be a crucial week for Bitcoin and altcoins’ relationship with traditional assets, the United States Federal Reserve is set to be the main talking point for hodlers.
Amid an atmosphere of still rampant inflation, quantitative easing still ongoing and geopolitical turmoil focused on Europe, there is plenty of uncertainty in the air, no matter what the trade.
Add to that a failure by Bitcoin to benefit from the chaos and the result is some serious cold feet — what would it take to instil confidence?
Just as it seems nothing could break the now months-old status quo on Bitcoin markets, which have been stuck in a trading range for all of 2022 so far, upcoming events could nonetheless provide that catalyst for a sea change in both sentiment and price action.
Cointelegraph takes a look at the factors set to help move the markets in the coming days.
Fight it or not, the Fed is the likely kingmaker when it comes crypto performance this week.
On Wednesday, policymakers will decide whether or not to proceed with a key interest rate hike which has been expected since last year.
The Fed has a problem — inflation is running hot, but the desire to reduce its record balance sheet from two years of coronavirus excesses is too.
A rate hike is thus tipped to be only modest — perhaps a quarter of a basis point — but the implications could nonetheless be considerable for Bitcoiners.
BTC has already shown itself to be firmly attached to U.S. equities, and any knee-jerk reactions to the Fed will likely be copied.
Stocks are no friends of rate hikes, as the easy money period which accompanied Coronavirus reactions was
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