Bitcoin moves sideways ahead of Fed rate announcement

The Fed, expected to release the meeting results and dot plot on the 19th
Cryptocurrencies are range-bound on the 19th... Some altcoins rise more than 5%
Bernstein, Cathie Wood: "BTC's bull market is not over"

As the Federal Reserve (Fed) is set to announce the benchmark interest rate, the market, including , was range-bound on the 19th.

The Fed held a regular meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to decide on its March monetary policy. The Fed is expected to release the meeting results and the dot plot of rate forecasts at 2 pm local time on the 19th.

Ahead of the Fed's rate announcement, which will directly impact the asset market, the and market remained range-bound.

Investors are particularly focused on whether Fed Chair Jerome Powell will provide clues about future rate cuts during the press conference. As a result, the market maintained a similar price level to the previous day on the 19th. Smaller 'lightweight' recorded an increase of more than 5%.

◇ = As of 4 pm on the 19th, based on Upbit, the price of is 12,169 million won. dominance is 61.59%.

According to on-chain analysis platform Glassnode, the long (bullish) and short (bearish) betting ratio in the futures market is 62.59% and 37.41%, respectively.

Despite 's recent poor performance, experts have expressed optimism about in the long term.

Investment firm Bernstein reported that "the current market is in the early stages of a bull market, not at the peak" and "expects to surpass $100,000 in this cycle". Furthermore, it analyzed that there is a possibility of reaching $200,000 by the end of this year.

However, it added that the upward cycle may be postponed to next year if macroeconomic deterioration or changes in the international situation occur.

Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Investment, also expressed a positive outlook on . In an interview with Bloomberg, Wood said, "We still believe we are in a bull market, and regulatory easing in the US will facilitate the inflow of institutional investors." She also emphasized that including in the portfolio will increase the overall risk-adjusted return.

Wood also noted that if inflation turns out to be lower than expected, there is a possibility of 2-3 rate cuts this year, which she believes will have a positive impact on the market.

◇Rising Coins = As of 4 pm on the 19th, based on Upbit, the cryptocurrency that recorded the largest increase from the previous trading day was , which rose about 9%.

is a 'Move to Earn (M2E)' service project. The project pays to users who exercise outdoors where GPS signals are detected, by selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in its own marketplace. Users can level up their NFT sneakers or create new ones, and also cash out the acquired . The used in the project is listed on the global exchange Binance.

◇Fear and Greed Index = The Digital Asset Fear and Greed Index provided by Alternative is at 32 points, maintaining the 'Fear' stage. The Fear stage (20-39) is a period of high price volatility and trading volume, where prices are declining. There is a high likelihood of forming a short-term bottom, so caution is advised when making purchases.

The Cryptocurrency Relative Strength Index (RSI) provided by Glassnode is 50.1, recording a 'neutral' state. RSI measures the relative strength of the upward and downward pressure on the price of a specific asset, indicating the degree of overbought and oversold of the asset.

Reporter Kwon Seung-won ksw@blockstreet.co.kr