The cryptocurrency market experienced a chilly wave as Bitcoin (BTC) fell below the $26,000 mark following the statements made by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell. Amidst the tumultuous events of the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole Symposium, his affirmations of countering inflation and the possible augmentation of interest rates sprinkled insecurity among investors. Interestingly, the tremors resonated beyond the realm of digital assets with stocks and bonds also nosediving before making a slight comeback. Cryptocurrency markets followed Bitcoin’s lead, with leading altcoin, Solana (SOL), experiencing a near 3% dip.
Sat backseat were the tokens of renowned Ethereum scaling networks Arbitrum and Optimism. Likewise, MKR, the governing token of decentralized finance lender MakerDAO, took a 4% plunge due to its affiliation with tokenized credit protocol Centrifuge that braced for a loan default. Interestingly, rare deviations like the frog-themed memecoin PEPE, suffered a whopping 17% tumble as a mass movement of tokens was noticed to exchanges, sparking fears of a large-scale market dump.
In spite of the rather glum state, experts aren’t ready to toll the death-knell quite yet. As per Sacha Ghebali, Director of Strategy at The Tie, the current meltdown could simply be Bitcoin reacting to macro pressures. With the coin treading below the 200-day moving average for the first time since January, Ghebali believes that the market could either be in a bear phase or still suffering from the memories of the previous week’s sell-off.
Among the flickers of hope, there were talks about an awaited catalyst that could pull crypto prices back up, which in most speculations outline a potential approval of a spot bitcoin ETF. Alternatively, the high wave of optimism surrounding the recent applications, BlackRock in particular, could be a beacon of hope or an overreaction. According to Rachel Lin, CEO of SynFutures, a decentralized exchange, the market may enter a period of sabbatical, undeterred by its collapse during the year’s first half before making a potential turn-around. Lin further unraveled the ongoing patterns of BTC concluding that the observed consolidation phase could end in a refreshed uptrend in the near future, with a range between $25,000 and $31,500.
It once again boils down to the strength on either side of this spectrum that can dictate the course of this crypto vehicle for the coming months – A fascinating journey that promises more ups and downs!
Source: Coindesk
