Bitcoin shakes of Fed volatility as analysts remain split on return under $24K

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) circled $30,000 on May 18 after fresh comments from the United States Federal Reserve sparked n volatility.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD consolidating within a range in place since May 12.

The pair had come unstuck as Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivered economic policy insights during the Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything Festival.

"I don't know if financial conditions have tightened more than this in a very long time," he told the paper's chief economics correspondent, Nick Timiraos, in an interview. 

Powell appeared to confirm that 50-basis-point key interest rate hikes would continue in subsequent meetings of the Fed's Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) and could reach "neutral" levels in Q4. Hikes afterward, however, could nonetheless continue if necessary to tame inflation further.

With traditional markets already pricing in such a scenario, volatility overall was limited as Powell avoided surprises.

BTC/USD saw a brief drop to $29,500 before recovering during Powell's words.

With risk assets set for difficult times as financial tightening continues, however, crypto market commentators had little by way of highly bullish news.

"Hawkish reminder. This is the biggest risk for markets," macro analyst Alex Krueger responded in a series of Twitter posts on the potential for ongoing rate hikes into next year:

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, markets expect the target rate to be between 275 and 300 basis points at the FOMC's December meeting.

Short term, some saw continued relief for BTC.

Related: Fear & Greed Index hits lowest since March 2020 even as Bitcoin price hits $30.5K

“Did manage a nice close above the $28.8K range low as well as the $30K low which marked