Bitcoin Struggles at $70K After $76K Rejection as Fed Holds Rates: Weekly Recap

It was another highly eventful macro week, as the tension in the Middle East is nowhere near coming to an end, but also in the US, where the central bank was scheduled to have its second FOMC meeting for the year.

Recall that just a week ago, bitcoin pushed toward $74,000 for the second time in the past 10 days, only to be rejected and driven south toward $70,000 during the weekend, especially after the US carried out one of the most devastating bombing attacks, as described by the POTUS, on Iranian infrastructure.

Nevertheless, the asset managed to maintain that level and quickly reversed its trajectory on Monday and especially Tuesday. It peaked on Tuesday morning at $76,000, which became its highest price tag in almost six weeks.

However, its progress stalled at this point, and the asset returned to $74,000 on Wednesday. It nosedived hours before the aforementioned FOMC meeting, going from $74,400 to $71,200. When the Fed’s decision met expectations, meaning that there was no change in the interest rates, BTC rebounded to $72,000.

The Fed Chair’s worrying comments about inflation and the overall economy led to more losses on the following day, and BTC dipped to $68,800 on Thursday. It bounced to over $71,000 earlier today, but it was stopped once again and currently fights to stay above $70,000. This means that it has lost nearly 5% of value in the past week, which is worse than many alts, including ETH and XRP.

Moreover, some, such as HYPE, TRX, TAO, and HTX, have posted impressive gains over the same period, reducing bitcoin’s dominance over the alts by over 0.5%.

Market Data

Cryptocurrency Market Overview Weekly Mar 20. Source: QuantifyCrypto

Market Cap: $2.48T | 24H Vol: $96B | BTC Dominance: 56.3%

BTC: $69,800 (-4,6%) | ETH: $2,125 (-2,4%) | XRP: $1.43 (-0,2%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

BREAKING: Strategy Buys $1.57 Billion Worth of Bitcoin (BTC). The business week began with a big purchase from Strategy. Saylor’s brainchild splashed over $1.5 billion to acquire 22,337 BTC. Consequently, its total stash grew to 761,068 BTC, acquired for over $57.6 billion.

Mastercard Deepens Crypto Push With $1.8B Acquisition of Stablecoin Payments Firm BVNK. The payments giant announced a $1.8 billion deal to acquire the stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK. It plans to expand its end-to-end support of digital assets and value movement across currencies, rails, and regions.

SEC Finally Clarifies That Most Crypto Assets Are Not Securities. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission finally outlined how federal securities laws apply to certain crypto assets and transactions with their involvement. It laid out a token taxonomy covering five categories: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities.

Argentina Orders Nationwide Block on Polymarket Over Unlicensed Gambling. The South American nation joined the growing list of countries that have imposed an all-out ban on Polymarket. The decision came after a Buenos Aires court determined the platform was operating an unauthorized betting service.

Another Exchange Slashes 30% Workforce as AI Pivot Deepens Amid Mounting Losses. Two major crypto exchanges announced big employee reductions in the past week alone. Gemini slashed its workforce by 30%, and its employee count dropped to 445. Before that, Crypto.com said it would cut 12% of its current employees. Both companies said they are focusing on AI instead.

Bitcoin ETFs Smash Records: 4 Highest Trading Volumes Ever All in Past Month. Data from Santiment revealed that the spot Bitcoin ETFs have registered four of the highest-volume trading sessions in the past month alone. Their analysts believe this showcases that institutional demand has returned to the BTC ETF scene.

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