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After a ravishing performance throughout the week, Bitcoin has continued to hold momentum during early trading hours on Tuesday, while other crypto assets were deviating from an upwards trajectory. Traders are anticipating an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve as the institution’s two-day FOMC meeting begins today.
Bitcoin Consolidates At $27.6k After Breaking $28,100 On Monday
BTC has gained over 30% throughout the last week and managed to climb above the $28,000 level on Monday. While the token is trading at $27,760 at the time of writing, bitcoin is still up 0.44% for the day. The token has faced some resistance after moving above the critical $28k level and has thus retracted back.
The average returns for both short-term investors and long-term investors have turned out to be positive, which might trigger a profit-booking spree if investors are happy with their current gains.
It is uplifting for the crypto market to see bitcoin rise against all odds throughout the last week. At a time, when global equity assets are undergoing a massive sell-off. The loss of confidence in traditional assets has directly affected bitcoin, as investors consider it to be a better alternative.
Investors believe the current consolidation is a step back as bitcoin prepares to rise to $30,000, a price level last seen nine months ago. The price target was in sight once bitcoin managed to break out of the $20,000 – $25,000 range.
While bitcoin might be holding its position, other cryptos were trading in the red. Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency in the world, is down by 0.43% at the time of writing and trading for $1,742. Following a retracement after crossing the $1.8k level on the weekend.
At the same time, Binance coin is down 1.07%, while Dogecoin is trading with a loss of 0.61%. The global cryptocurrency market is down by 0.67% and the market capitalization stands at 1.16 Trillion.
First Republic Bank In Line To Extend The Banking Crisis
The banking sector is going through a tough time, and the situation seems to be getting worse by the day. After the collapse of several banks, including Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank, the banking industry is bracing itself for another possible casualty – First Republic Bank.
First Republic Bank suffered a significant setback at the beginning of the month and has not been able to stabilize itself since then. The bank has lost nearly 90% of its value in just 15 days, and most of the damage occurred in the last week. First Republic Bank’s ticker FRC has noted a 75.49% drop in share price, bringing it down to $12.08 at the time of writing.
The conditions in the banking industry have worsened to the point where trading of FRC shares had to be halted earlier in the day. Although trading resumed after a while, the bearishness was so intense that within 20 seconds, trading was halted again. This situation has raised concerns about the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, with many people wondering if the Fed will raise rates or refrain from doing so.
Goldman Sachs (GS) has recommended that the Fed pause its rate hiking streak to fight inflation, stating that the fight against inflation could wait for another six weeks. The bank added that “the link between a single 25bp rate hike and the future path of inflation is quite tenuous, and the FOMC can always hike again at its next meeting just six weeks later if appropriate or send signals to tighten financial conditions even sooner.”
Despite concerns about the FOMC meeting, the price of Bitcoin has remained unaffected by these events. However, the banking industry must brace itself for more challenges, and it remains to be seen how First Republic Bank and other banks will weather the storm.
Liquidation of BTC Short Positions & Concerns From Miners Present Alternate Scenarios For Bitcoin
Bitcoin has enjoyed a price surge of 30% in the past week, but on-chain metrics indicate that the cryptocurrency’s price may retrace towards $24,500. According to the economic data analysis platform MacroMicro, the average cost of mining Bitcoin has risen faster than the price in the past month.
Despite the recent price rally, miners have suffered losses in the past month as the cost of mining a block of Bitcoin reached $33,000 in the 30 days leading up to March 20, whereas the price of BTC only reached $28,500 during the same period.
The current disparity between the cost of mining Bitcoin and its price could force miners to sell more tokens to mitigate their losses. This, in turn, could exert significant bearish pressure on the price of BTC as approximately 10% of the total circulating supply is held by miners.
Additionally, BTC holders have been depositing more tokens on exchanges than withdrawing, which may signal an uptick in short-term trading and profit-taking. If this trend continues, it could lead to a sell-off triggering a price retracement for BTC in the upcoming weeks.
Apart from this, there are a lot of other factors that play a hand in deciding the price of bitcoin. Rajagopal Menon, Vice president at WazirX, said, “According to Block statistics, nearly $300 million in leveraged BTC short positions were liquidated in the last week. This amounts to more than $300 million in buying pressure for BTC. During a bear market, this is quite substantial because it doesn’t take nearly as much money to drive prices up or down.”
”Binance’s conversion of $1 billion in BUSD into BTC, ETH, BNB, and other unnamed cryptocurrencies is likely to have contributed to the recent rise. Another reason is the official announcement of the Ethereum Shanghai hard fork update date (April 12), which will allow users to withdraw their staked Eth and is expected to stimulate Ethereum market demand,”
Bitcoin’s surge, despite macroeconomic conditions, has reinstated its safe-haven status like gold. However, traders should be cautious of potential price declines as BTC is vulnerable to corrections and is on the verge of being overbought. And the latest price trends have started to show hourly declines, which may mean Bitcoin’s retrace. But it is too soon to say – so make cautious investments. We recommend investing in the best crypto presales. They represent major upsides and guaranteed gains since they aren’t yet available for trade on cryptocurrency exchanges.
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