First Mover Asia: Bitcoin Falls Below $44K After Fed Minutes Release

The cryptocurrency drops almost 6%, and altcoins also fall.

AccessTimeIconJan 6, 2022 at 1:50 a.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 6:27 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:

Market moves: Bitcoin slipped to below $44,000 after Fed minutes release, altcoins followed.

Technician’s take: BTC broke below $45K support intraday; short-term oversold indicators intact.

Catch the latest episodes of CoinDesk TV for insightful interviews with crypto industry leaders and analysis.

Prices

Bitcoin (BTC) $43,423 -5.87%

Ether (ETH) $3,528 -7.4%

Markets

S&P 500: 4,700 -1.94%

DJIA: 36,407 -1.07%

Nasdaq: 15.100 -3.34%

Gold: $1,810 -0.19%

Market Moves

Bitcoin fell below $44,000, after a Federal Reserve official in the U.S. implied a high level of discomfort with high inflation during the Fed’s meeting in December, according to minutes of the meeting that were released on Wednesday.

At the time of writing, bitcoin, the oldest cryptocurrency, was trading at $43,423, down by 5.87% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk Data.

Data from TradingView and Coinbase shows that after minutes were released at 19:00 UTC on Wednesday, bitcoin fell 2.73% to $44,500 on the hourly chart.

Bitcoin's hourly price chart showed steep drop in the hour after the Fed meetings were released. (TradingView)
Bitcoin's hourly price chart showed steep drop in the hour after the Fed meetings were released. (TradingView)

“Participants generally noted that, given their individual outlooks for the economy, the labor market and inflation, it may become warranted to increase the federal funds rate sooner or at a faster pace than participants had earlier anticipated,” according to the Dec. 14-15 meeting minutes. “Some participants also noted that it could be appropriate to begin to reduce the size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet relatively soon after beginning to raise the federal funds rate.”

As CoinDesk reported previously, bitcoin and traditional risk assets would potentially face price pressure if the minutes signal an internal debate on raising rates and starting the balance sheet contraction along with the end of asset purchases in March.

Even though bitcoin is viewed by some as a hedge against inflation, it is also an emerging technology, and so it is sensitive to a tightened monetary policy – similar to the tech-heavy Nasdaq index.

S&P 500 and Nasdaq both slipped after the Fed minutes release, while U.S. Treasurys also sold off as yields on 10-year Treasurys rose.

Other cryptocurrencies also followed the sell-off. Ether was down by 2.51% to $3,644.44 in the hour after the minutes release, based on the hourly chart on TradingView. The loss came after the No. 2 cryptocurrency by market capitalization rose as high as almost $3,900 during early U.S. trading hours on Wednesday.

Technician’s take

Bitcoin below $45K Support

BTC has broken below $45,000, which was the bottom of a monthlong price range. It remains to be seen if buyers will enter on the dip given persistent oversold signals on the daily chart.

For now, upside momentum continues to slow, which means short-term buying could be limited at below $50,000. There is strong resistance ahead, which defined a downtrend from the November all-time high of around $69,000. Sellers remain in control.

Lower support is seen at around $40,000-$42,000, a range bitcoin hit during its crash in early December.

Bitcoin daily price chart shows support/resistance with RSI on bottom (Damanick Dantes/CoinDesk, TradingView)
Bitcoin daily price chart shows support/resistance with RSI on bottom (Damanick Dantes/CoinDesk, TradingView)

CoinDesk TV

In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of “First Mover” on CoinDesk TV:

“First Mover” hosts spoke to Harvard Business School professor Marco Di Maggio about the risk and opportunity for algorithmic stablecoins. Seth Ginns, a CoinFund managing partner and head of Liquid Investments, analyzed crypto markets. Plus, taking a page from ConstitutionDao, will BlockbusterDAO succeed in its mission? Tasafila, the pseudonymous founder of BlockbusterDAO, shared insights into the movement.

Latest Reads

Crypto Browser Brave Passes 50M Monthly Active Users The company launched search, wallet and video products in 2021.

Australian Open Apes Into Tennis NFTs and Decentraland Too The tennis tournament is merging NFTs with on-court action in a creative twist on generative artwork.

2022 Is the Year of Ethereum Everything important in blockchain is happening on Ethereum, says EY’s global blockchain lead.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Muyao Shen

Muyao was a markets reporter at CoinDesk.

Damanick Dantes

Damanick was a crypto market analyst at CoinDesk where he wrote the daily Market Wrap and provided technical analysis. He is a Chartered Market Technician designation holder and member of the CMT Association. Damanick is also a portfolio strategist and does not invest in digital assets.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.