Bitcoin limps into FOMC as flagging volume adds to BTC price hurdles
Bitcoin (BTC) hit daily lows at the May 3 Wall Street open as markets counted down the hours to the Federal Reserve interest rate decision.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $28,152 on Bitstamp, down 2.2% from the day’s highs.
The pair continued volatility into the May 3 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the event which accompanies interest rate adjustments.
As Cointelegraph reported, market sentiment has priced in a 90%+ chance of the Fed hiking 0.25% to copy its March moves, with little expectations of a surprise instead.
The odds of the hike materializing stood at 83% at the time of writing, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, around 15% lower than the previous day.
As in March, however, the Fed would be hiking into a banking crisis exacerbated by already high interest rates. Multiple United States regional bank stocks fell considerably the day prior, raising concerns that the crisis has gone nowhere.
“The regional bank sector, KRE, just posted its 3rd biggest daily drop of this crisis, falling nearly 7%. Yet, we still have not received any comment from the FDIC or Fed,” financial commentary resource, The Kobeissi Letter, told Twitter followers on the day.
Kobeissi referred to the U.S. SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF, down over 30% year-to-date.
Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto derivatives giant BitMEX, held a similarly bleak view, predicting the downfall of several regional banks this week in a copycat move following the shutdown of First Republic Bank at the weekend.
A few of these banks won't be around next Monday. Unless the Fed cuts rates and signals more cuts, or #banktermfundingprogram eligible collateral is expanded to any loan on a US federally
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