Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">BTC</a>) circled $102,000 into the Dec. 19 Wall Street open as crypto sentiment cautiously recovered from a new macro scare.
<figure><img alt="Bitcoin trader sees ‘larger’ BTC price dip next month as $100K holds" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193df34-e626-724a-8912-2ca0cc2e1afd" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="fed-halts-bitcoin-bull-market-in-its-tracks">Fed halts Bitcoin bull market in its tracks</h2>
Data from <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://subscription.cointelegraph.com/?_gl=1*7499wx*_ga*MTQ0MzQ0NzI4Ny4xNzE2MzY1NTA0*_ga_53R24TEEB1*MTcxNjM2NTUwNC4xLjEuMTcxNjM2Njg2MC4wLjAuMA.." rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">Cointelegraph Markets Pro</a> and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTCUSD/?exchange=BINANCE" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">TradingView</a> showed 2% BTC price gains versus the daily open.
Bitcoin had joined a <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-drops-to-100-3-k-after-fed-rate-cut-and-powell-s-revised-2025-inflation-outlook" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-drops-to-100-3-k-after-fed-rate-cut-and-powell-s-revised-2025-inflation-outlook">crypto and risk-asset sell-off</a> at the hands of the US Federal Reserve the day prior, during which BTC/USD fell to lows of $98,695 on Bitstamp.
The blow came from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who signaled reluctance over future interest rate cuts amid a rebound in various inflation gauges.
“With today’s action, we have lowered our policy rate by a full percentage point from its peak, and our policy stance is now significantly less restrictive,” he said in a <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/mediacenter/files/FOMCpresconf20241218.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.federalreserve.gov/mediacenter/files/FOMCpresconf20241218.pdf">prepared statement</a> at the press conference that followed the move to cut the benchmark interest rate by 0.25%.
<blockquote>
 “We can therefore be more cautious as we consider further adjustments to our policy rate.”
</blockquote>
Both the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq 100 ended the day’s trading session down by around 3% as a result.
The latest estimates from CME Group’s <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html">FedWatch Tool</a> nonetheless put the odds of a further rate cut at the Fed’s next meeting in January at just 8.6%.
<figure><img alt="Bitcoin trader sees ‘larger’ BTC price dip next month as $100K holds" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193df30-d525-7159-b7c4-cb9ba9930765" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Fed target rate probabilities. Source: CME Group
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Analyzing low-timeframe BTC price action, popular trader Skew remained modestly upbeat about Bitcoin’s recovery.
“So far no trend invalidation even with the sweep of last weeks low &amp; market demand,” he wrote in part of an <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/52kskew/status/1869702644983607374" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">X post</a> about the four-hour chart.
<blockquote>
 “Would like to see price remaining strong above VAH here &amp; sustained passive demand under price for a recovery / higher.”
</blockquote>
<figure><img alt="Bitcoin trader sees ‘larger’ BTC price dip next month as $100K holds" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193df31-4442-75af-9cb9-65ff3d8d96cd" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Skew/X
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Skew referred to the value area high, or VAH, which made the area above $101,500 important to hold.
<h2 id="btc-price-risks-january-pullback">BTC price risks January pullback</h2>
Others recommended taking a longer-term view amid heightened volatility, with Bitcoin still up 6% in December.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-eating-tradfi-lunch-coinbase-revenue-beats-nasdaq" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">Crypto ‘eating TradFi’s lunch’ as $5.75B Coinbase revenue beats Nasdaq</a>
“BTC Price action is choppy and doesn’t look pretty. Yet, it’s still trending up slowly,” fellow trader Daan Crypto Trades <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/DaanCrypto/status/1869714548074414083" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">continued</a> in part of his own X post.
Daan Crypto Trades <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/DaanCrypto/status/1869672282836402627" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">acknowledged</a> the cathartic effect of mass liquidations accompanying the market downturn. Data from monitoring resource <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">CoinGlass</a> put the cross-crypto total for the 24 hours to the time of writing at $800 million.
“Back in 2021, Wednesday was usually the day where we saw a lot of liquidations,” he added about market behavior during Bitcoin’s previous bull market.&nbsp;
<blockquote>
 “It almost became a trend at some point. Up only -&gt; Mid week liquidation wicks -&gt; Retrace. Would be interesting to see if that repeats.”
</blockquote>
<figure><img alt="Bitcoin trader sees ‘larger’ BTC price dip next month as $100K holds" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193df32-58b2-788b-8e21-0277a8e9c305" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass
 </figcaption>
</figure>
More bearish predictions nonetheless came from those wary of the macro implications. Trader and analyst Mark Cullen warned of a “larger Bitcoin pullback” that is potentially still to come.
“BTC is still holding 100k which is key to seeing maybe 1 more push before the bigger correction hits,” he <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/mark_cullen/status/1869603974816338282" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">warned</a> X followers, predicting such a scenario playing out in January.
<figure><img alt="Bitcoin trader sees ‘larger’ BTC price dip next month as $100K holds" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193df32-fb0a-745f-9089-62f1f7932f62" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USD chart. Source: Mark Cullen/X
 </figcaption>
</figure>
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 trader sees ‘larger’ BTC price dip next month as $100K holds

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