Bitcoin (BTC) spiked through $62,000 after the Aug. 23 Wall Street open as the United States Federal Reserve announced the first interest rate cuts since 2019.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView
BTC price volatile as Fed’s Powell says policy should “adjust”
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed new local BTC price highs of $62,323 on Bitstamp.
Investors reacted warmly to confirmation by Fed Chair Jerome Powell that interest rates were now due to fall.
“The time has come for policy to adjust,” he said during a speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium.
The event, which markets had keenly watched for policy easing cues, saw a dovish Powell herald an “appropriate dialling back of policy restraint” while not giving a concrete timeline for the cuts to begin.
“The current level of our policy rate gives us ample room to respond to any risks we may face, including the risk of unwelcome further weakening in labor market conditions,” he continued.
Employment had formed a key topic of debate over the week after a snap drawdown saw job openings for the twelve months through March 2024 revised lower by 818,000.
The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool meanwhile saw markets betting on a 0.25% rate cut at the Fed’s next meeting at the end of September.
Fed target rate probabilities. Source: CME Group
Responding, Bitcoin market commentators were in a bullish mood.
“Powell goes full dove,” trader, analyst and podcast host Scott Melker, known as the “Wolf of All Streets,” summarized in a post on X alongside Powell’s quotes.
Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, predicted “up only time for crypto.”
“$BTC liquidations to the upside getting hit and a long wick forming,” popular trader CrypNuevo wrote while ananlyzing low-timeframe market moves.
Bitcoin traders up liquidity games
The latest data from monitoring resource CoinGlass tracked liquidity shifts across exchange order books. It revealed a new block of ask liquidity being added at $62,450, keeping price from heading any higher at the time of writing.
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