Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week digesting major macroeconomic news as the United States sees the second-largest bank failure in its history.After a si
Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week digesting major macroeconomic news as the United States sees the second-largest bank failure in its history.
After a sideways weekend, BTC/USD was already volatile into the new weekly and monthly candle as downside kicked in.
After steadying below $29,000, BTC price action is already facing more potential pressure as First Republic Bank is placed in public receivership and taken over by JPMorgan Chase.
The move, announced during Asia trading but before the Wall Street open, precedes an already heavy week in which the Federal Reserve will reveal its next interest rate shift.
With a lot to take in, the potential for continued surprises on crypto markets is clearly in evidence.
Cointelegraph takes a look at these risks and more in the weekly rundown of crypto, and specifically Bitcoin, price triggers.
BTC price volatility upends flat monthly close
Classic flash volatility accompanied Bitcoin’s segue into a new weekly and monthly candle after April finished sideways.
After closing out the month at $29,300, BTC/USD swiftly dived lower as bid liquidity was pulled from the Binance order book.
This, monitoring resource Material Indicators noted, was responsible for delivering the overnight local lows of $28,289 on Bitstamp, as tracked by data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.
#FireCharts 2.0 (beta) shows that when $29,150 was getting filled the bid ladder below was pulled and moved lower. #BTC price action sliced through the freshly open hole of illiquidity like a hot knife through butter.
Seeing these moves play out in near realtime is a great way… pic.twitter.com/CnvRLRNcwc
— Material Indicators (@MI_Algos) May 1, 2023
Bitcoin thus reached “bounce” targets for some, including Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, who noted potential strength on altcoin markets returning.
“Bitcoin didn’t hold $29,200 after multiple tests. Reached $28,300 for a bounce play. Good part; Altcoins are bouncing more firmly,” he summarized on the day.
The day prior, Van de Poppe had warned that without a reclaim of $30,000, Bitcoin would not be able to continue its uptrend, while correctly predicting the eventual reversal level.
Standard chop on #Bitcoin in the weekend.
No breakout above $30K = no trigger for continuation.
Holding above $29.2K, and still facing a potential correction to $28.3K as the ideal trigger for new longs. pic.twitter.com/3GJY8wImR9— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) April 30, 2023
Popular trader Crypto Tony meanwhile confirmed that he was waiting for $28,300 support to prove itself before taking a position.
Still not in a position yet, but looking here at the current support level we are on around $28,300. If we can maintain this level and hold, well this would be an entry for me on a long scalp
Will need to see a few 4 hour candles to demonstrate demand pic.twitter.com/zCKnl1vxw3
— Crypto Tony (@CryptoTony__) May 1, 2023
The same level was also important for other traders, including Ninja, while Sun Tzu agreed that without a clear break into the $30,000 zone, the odds for extended downside remain.
“We are still ranging within this important resistance zone,” he told Twitter followers on May 1.
“As always, never assume a resistance is going to be broken until it happens, as the risk reward ratio for longs are quite low. The plan still remains the same, unless we break $31,000.”
Still long bias for a bounce, added on the stop hunt.
If we start closing below $28.3k, I will cut and long somewhere sub $28k for a bounce
above $28.6k & bulls should be good for higher, if we keep stalling there… not good & likely cutting$BTC https://t.co/QFJzLzqveT pic.twitter.com/TYS7eGKxAF
— Ninja (@Ninjascalp) May 1, 2023
JPMorgan takes over First Republic Bank in 2nd biggest U.S. bank failure
In strong contrast to last week, macroeconomic events will take center stage in the coming days as the Federal Reserve meets to decide on interest rate changes.
Despite being heavily priced in by markets, the forthcoming 0.25% hike, to be announced at the May 3 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), is still not guaranteed.
The picture remains complex. The Fed is hiking into increasing signs of an inbound recession, while a more pressing danger comes in the form of the lingering banking crisis from March.
As of May 1, First Republic Bank (FRC), shares of which plunged 75% in April alone, is being placed under public receivership by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Lenders including PNC Financial Services Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citizens Financial Group Inc. were among the banks bidding for FRC, with JPMorgan ultimately taking over.
Reports previously indicated that the deal should have been completed and announced before the start of Asia trading, but this took longer, being announced at approximately 8am UTC.
First Republic seized by…
cointelegraph.com