Bitcoin (BTC) was in the price range of US $ 30 thousand on Wednesday (18/05/2022) following comments from the Federal Reserve (the Fed) that triggered volatility in the capital market.
Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data show BTC/USD has been consolidating within a certain range since May 12.
Bitcoin price movements against the US dollar began to volatile after the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, gave an economic policy speech at the Future of Everything festival held by the Wall Street Journal.
"I don't know if financial conditions were tighter in the past than they are today," Powell said.
He confirmed the 50 basis point rate hike would continue at the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting. Powell added that interest rates could reach neutral levels in the fourth quarter of this year.
However, after the quarter interest rates could be raised if needed to tame continued inflation.
Volatility in the stock market was limited following Powell's announcement. The reason is, market participants have guessed what the chairman of the Federal Reserve said.
BTC/USD briefly fell to $29,500 before further recovering after Powell's speech.
However, crypto market observers do not have a positive sentiment amid financial regulations that are a barrier for risky assets.
Macro analyst Alex Krueger said rising interest rates was the biggest risk to capital markets. He added that each Fed official has a different definition of neutral.
According to the FedWatch tool from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), capital markets expect interest rates to be between 2.75 and 3 percent at the FOMC meeting in December.
A number of other crypto traders have a positive view.
Daan Crypto Trades believes that after the downward movement to US$28.8 thousand and US$30 thousand, a test of the US$33 thousand price level makes sense.
