Bitcoin casts off dip, climbs past $45K as Fed signals rate hike coming in March

bitcoin (BTC) hit daily lows, then rebounded sharply on March 2 as further comments from the US Federal Reserve added to the macro volatility.

Powell: March rate hike expected as 'appropriate'

Data of Markets Cointelegraph Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD falling to $43,350 on Bitstamp ahead of the Wall Street open on March 3.

However, a rally ensued as trading began, with the pair already above $45,000 at the time of writing.

The volatility Following the release of a new statement from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who for the first time gave concrete notice of a key rate hike this month.

"Our monetary policy has been adapting to the changing economic environment, and will continue to do so," he said.

"We have phased out our net asset purchases. With inflation well above 2% and a strong labor market, we expect it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the fed funds rate at our meeting later this month."

Though markets priced it in for a long time, questions remained about the extent of the surge and how many might follow in 2022. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Powell added, threatened "highly uncertain" consequences for the US economy.

Nonetheless, Bitcoin shook off any jitters over the news, rising to local highs near just under $45,000.

For trader and analyst Rekt Capital, there was reason for optimism, as in terms of order books, BTC/USD was now in something of a “gap” that could trigger a run towards $48,000 - the next resistance area on the sell side.

Also of interest was whether the 50-day EMA could flip to support.

#BTC continues to hover below the blue 50 week EMA

Breakouts beyond this EMA have preceded an immense upside

Turn this Bull Market EMA into support and we will see the Bull Market resume$BTC #crypto #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/neXcP6lUHs

— RektCapital (@rektcapital) March 2, 2022

“One scenario could be that we rally back into Bitcoin to catch the shorts, grab the liquidity and drop back to $42K,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe. continued in a separate forecast on the day.

“On top of that, we also have massive resistance in the $46,000 region that I doubt we will break in one fell swoop.”

LUNA gains signal back to $100 all-time highs

Elsewhere, altcoins were flat, with Ether (ETH) looking to retake the $3,000 mark once again.

Related: Bitcoin Analysts See Crucial Levels to Hold After BTC Price Almost Hits $45K, Ethereum $3K

Land (MOON) stood out among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, continuing a winning streak ready to see it hit $100 after its initial rejection earlier in the year.

“The total value locked in the entire crypto ecosystem is actually doing very well,” Van de Poppe aggregate.

“It has only lost about 10-15% in value of $USD in the last few months, while the entire market has been falling quite heavily. The next wave of the bull run will likely be led by DeFi.”