- Top cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ether have consolidated ahead of today’s FOMC meeting.
- Crypto experts expect BTC to rally following the widely anticipated interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
- Traders’ sentiment appears to be divided with a near 1:1 ratio on BTC long and short positions on major exchanges.
Top cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether, are consolidating ahead of today’s FOMC meeting, where a rate hike of 25 basis points is expected. Crypto experts have predicted that an interest rate hike followed by a pause would drive up the price of BTC and ETH, though most traders are looking forward to a pause rather than another hike.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for later today is arguably the most anticipated event of this month for traditional finance. However, its impact has historically spilled over to the crypto market as well, with mainstream cryptocurrencies often reacting to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates.
According to a report by Bloomberg, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s trading desk have projected a 65% probability of an interest rate hike and pause by the Federal Reserve. The analysts added that there is a 34% probability of an interest rate hike, followed by further hikes in the future. They also laid out a scenario where there would be no changes to the interest rate, though the probability of that was a mere 1% to 2%.
At the time of writing BTC was trading at $29,194, with a mere 0.14% change over the past 24 hours. The days leading up to today’s FOMC meeting saw BTC in a ranging pattern between $29,000 and $31,300. Meanwhile, ETH was trading at $1,852, with a 0.06% change over the past 24 hours.
Data from the on-chain analytics platform Coinglass showed that crypto traders were equally split over the price action of Bitcoin ahead of FOMC. The ratio between long and short positions was near 1:1 on major crypto exchanges. Technical analyst Jim Wyckoff noted that August BTC futures prices were trading slightly higher in early U.S. trading hours.
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