FOMC

United

Chair

Bitcoin

Spot

Bitcoin&nbsp;traded at $61,000 on July 3 after the United States inflation outlook worsened.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/bc4c0021-8a69-49ee-8f8d-4681a1f1ee8b.png" alt="" title="">
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 BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView
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<h2 data-ct-non-breakable="true" id="fed-s-powell-kicks-the-can-on-rate-cut">Fed’s Powell kicks the can on rate cut</h2>
Data from <a href="https://subscription.cointelegraph.com/?_gl=1*7499wx*_ga*MTQ0MzQ0NzI4Ny4xNzE2MzY1NTA0*_ga_53R24TEEB1*MTcxNjM2NTUwNC4xLjEuMTcxNjM2Njg2MC4wLjAuMA..">Cointelegraph Markets Pro</a> and <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTCUSD/?exchange=BINANCE" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">TradingView</a> showed BTC price strength slowly recovering from a 2% dip at the daily close.
This compounded the existing downside to produce local lows of $60,561 on Bitstamp, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-63k-liquidity-sparks-hopes-40-btc-price-gains"></a><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-63k-liquidity-sparks-hopes-40-btc-price-gains">erasing gains from the weekend</a>.
The mood appeared to worsen as Jerome Powell, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, gave a speech on the economy and monetary policy at an event in Portugal.
The Fed, he explained, needed more convincing that conditions were right to lower interest rates — a key move being watched by crypto and risk asset bulls.
“We just want to understand that the levels that we're seeing are a true reading on what is actually happening with underlying inflation,” he said, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/feds-powell-says-more-evidence-falling-inflation-needed-before-rate-cuts-2024-07-02/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">quoted</a> by Reuters and others.
Markets slightly lessened the odds of a rate cut coming at the September meeting of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), with these still standing at around 65% at the time of writing, per <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">data</a> from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/8cf317ee-4f98-4d70-937b-f772313984f5.png" alt="" title="">
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 Fed target rate probabilities for September FOMC meeting. Source: CME Group
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“It’s clear that the Fed will continue their ‘meeting by meeting’ approach,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in part of a <a href="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1808148466075394143" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">response</a> on X. 
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 “While markets are expecting 2 rate cuts this year, the Fed’s latest guidance says 1 cut is coming. The next few months are crucial.”
</blockquote>
<h2 data-ct-non-breakable="true" id="bitcoin-hashrate-drop-may-spark-healthy-overdue-correction">Bitcoin hashrate drop may spark “healthy overdue correction"</h2>
Bitcoin market participants thus watched, frustrated as BTC/USD returned to the bottom of an all-too-familiar range.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/sub-60k-bear-trap-5-things-bitcoin-this-week">Was sub-$60K a bear trap? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week</a>
Popular trader Skew noted manipulatory liquidity moves on exchanges via order “spoofing,” the latest case of which provided overhead resistance, which was added and removed multiple times.
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 Source: <a href="https://x.com/52kskew/status/1808328316925129070" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Skew</a>
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Spot demand on the largest global exchange, Binance, he added on the day, was at $60,000 “and lower.”
Others <a href="https://x.com/MikybullCrypto/status/1808366004222689442/photo/1" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">noted</a> that Bitcoin had filled the latest “gap” in CME futures, which appeared thanks to the weekend’s upside.
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/b28668d7-6ea9-4f32-9ce7-031fc86bfa99.png" alt="" title="">
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 CME Bitcoin futures 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView
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For Charles Edwards, founder of quantitative Bitcoin and digital asset fund Capriole Investments, the latest BTC price action was cause for concern. 
Markets, he argued, had not reconciled themselves with the ongoing <a href="https://www.lookintobitcoin.com/charts/hash-ribbons/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">capitulation</a> phase&nbsp;among miners — a phenomenon <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-hash-ribbons-first-buy-signal-25k-btc-price"></a><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-hash-ribbons-first-buy-signal-25k-btc-price">recently reported on by Cointelegraph</a>.
“Price has not yet reflected the onchain obliteration,” he <a href="https://x.com/caprioleio/status/1808335079393186219" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">warned</a> X followers. 
<blockquote data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 “It doesn’t have to happen, time also heals all wounds, but Bitcoin is not patient. Either we’re lucky, and price just consolidates between $60-70K for up to 2 months, or we puke and get a healthy overdue correction.”
</blockquote>
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/f121eb6e-0cdf-464a-818f-d36b07c3ce1d.png" alt="" title="">
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 Bitcoin hash ribbons. Source: LookIntoBitcoin
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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Bitcoin gives up late June gains amid warning $60K holding is ‘lucky’

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