Crypto wrap: Positive commentary from Jerome Powell keeps market stable

business-standard.com:

In the past week, the cryptocurrency market was volatile, but largely in the green. Bitcoin (BTC) rose over 3 per cent and was trading close to $17,000 at $16,970 on Friday. Ethereum (ETH) was up nearly 9 per cent and was trading at $1,280, according to coinmarketcap.

The cryptocurrency market fell in the earlier part of the week due to rising Covid-19 cases and the protests against lockdowns in China. But in the later part of the week, the market gained momentum after Fed chair Jerome Powell's comments signaled a moderation in rate hikes in coming policy announcements.

"Monetary policy affects the economy and inflation with uncertain lags, and the full effects of our rapid tightening so far are yet to be felt. Thus, it makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down. The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting," Powell said.

The Fed will announce its policy on December 14.

"The downward movement was owing to the protests in China and coincidental bankruptcy filing from BlockFi. The upside move was fuelled by neutral to net positive commentary from the FED about upcoming rate hikes," Anurag Dixit, founder of crypto asset management platform Kunji said.

"After collapsing in mid-November due to the FTX fiasco, BTC’s price is now back to the $17,000 level. Bitcoin and other cryptos rallied after Fed chair Jerome Powell’s speech that hinted that the central bank would slow down its interest rate hikes. However, they traded sideways on Thursday as Powell hinted at moderating the monetary policy...However, BTC is trading below its annual minimum peak of $17,500 in June" Alankar Saxena,