Bitcoin Beats Strong On U.S. Fed's FOMC Hawkish Comment

U.S. Fed Mentioned Possibility of Adjusting Pace of Quantitative Tightening
BTC Rises 20 Days Amid Market Relief...'Risk Asset' Altcoins Fall Again
Ju Ki-young "BTC, Rising Market Won't End Easy"…Representing Optimism

Despite the announcement of the hawkish stance of the Bitcoin(BTC) U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), it remained strong on the 20th without a significant drop.

On the 19th, the Fed revealed a hawkish stance through the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in January, but many of the comments did not deviate significantly from market expectations, especially the possibility of adjusting the pace of quantitative tightening.

"With the current high uncertainty, it is appropriate to carefully consider further adjustments to the monetary policy stance," the Fed's FOMC minutes said. "We need to further check the evidence of disinflation before we consider adjusting the target range of the Fed funds rate."

Regarding quantitative tightening, he said, "There is a possibility that reserve volatility will increase over the next few months due to debt limit issues. Therefore, it may be appropriate to temporarily stop shrinking the balance sheet or adjust the pace."

While Bitcoin rose slightly, the decline in altcoins, classified as "risk assets," intensified on the 20th. In particular, the lack of tangible positive factors to lead the market's rise is cited as the main reason for the recent sideways trend.

◇Bitcoin = Bitcoin price is $96,816 at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2025.The Bitcoin share(dominance) was 61.14%.

The long(up) and short(down) betting ratios in the Bitcoin futures market stood at 59.06% and 40.94%, according to the on-chain analytics platform Sigbtc.

Optimistic outlook surrounding Bitcoin was raised in the market despite its continued decline.

CryptoQuant CEO Ju Ki-young said on the 19th that the upward trend will continue even if the price of Bitcoin falls 30% from the present, pointing to the "Cost-Basis Trends," which means the average holding price of Bitcoin (BTC) through his X account.

Joo's major bitcoin holders and their average bitcoin holdings are ▲ institutional investors with exchange-traded funds (ETFs), $89,000 ▲ Binance spot traders, $59,000 ▲ Bitcoin miners, $57,000 ▲ old whale wallets, $25,000.

Joo pointed to examples of the start of a historic Bitcoin downtrend in November 2018, March 2020 and May 2022, saying the downtrend began when the price of Bitcoin was below the average holding price of miners.

"I don't think the downside will start this year," he said, "Bitcoin is still in an upward cycle and the upward cycle could continue even if it falls about 30% from its all-time high, as seen in past cycle charts."

◇Upward Coin = The cryptocurrency that recorded the largest increase from the previous trading day at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 was Berachain(BERA), up about 12%.

Berachain Surges One Day After Network Upgrade.

Berachain said it integrates the PICE core of the PICE network to provide more than 850 real-time price feeds. As a result, Berachain's spot trading volume increased by 13%, and the price also soared.

◇Fear Greed Index = The cryptocurrency fear-greed index provided by Alternative has entered the 'Fear' phase with 49 points. The neutral phase is the section where psychological resistance and support of market participants appear. It is an important decision section for future price movements.

The cryptocurrency relative strength index(RSI) provided by Sigbtc was 57.0, which was in a 'neutral' state. RSI sets the relative strength between the upward and downward pressure of a particular asset price and is an indicator of the over-purchase and over-sale of a particular asset.

권승원 기자 ksw@blockstreet.co.kr