Bitcoin (BTC) Wobbles Ahead of Fed’s Powell

Bitcoin (BTC) saw volatility at the July 31 Wall Street open as markets braced for United States macro events and the monthly close.

Bitcoin ( BTC ) price volatility hit the headlines at the July 31 Wall Street open as markets prepared for United States macro events and the monthly candle close.

BTC price hit highs of $66,814 on Bitstamp before the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rate changes, set to be announced later in the day.

According to data from CME Group's FedWatch Tool, markets do not expect the FOMC to alter rates until September. However, traders were paying close attention to subsequent commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

“We anticipate increased volatility ahead of tonight’s FOMC. We do not expect a cut and place higher importance on the statement and Powell’s presser after,” trading firm QCP Capital noted in its latest update to Telegram channel subscribers.

Other macro data on the day highlighted the chance of that scenario playing out. In Europe, eurozone inflation quickened to 2.6%, exceeding expectations of 2.5%.

“Core inflation in Europe hit 2.9%, above expectations of 2.8%,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted in part of a reaction on X.

As reported by Cointelegraph, major tech stocks continued to come under pressure as a week of earnings reports failed to lift the mood.

Moving average becomes key BTC price support Turning to Bitcoin itself, Material Indicators co-founder Keith Alan said that he was in “wait and see” mode ahead of the Fed and monthly candle close.

“Whatever the case, it’s safe to say that we have a recipe for volatility through the Monthly candle close/open,” part of his analysis on X reads on July 30.

Alan highlighted the 21-week simple moving average at $65,700 as the key level to hold in the event of downside volatility.

“Losing the 21-Week MA would open the door to fill some CME Gaps, but at the moment we do have some bid support laddered in the $63k - $65k range,” he explained, referring to “gaps” between open and closing prices on CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market.

Data from monitoring platform CoinGlass showed order book buy liquidity increasing around $65,500 at the time of writing.

“I was expecting Bitcoin to provide us with a bit more of a bounce yesterday, but ultimately I'm still looking for that 63k range low to get swept,” popular trader Mark Cullen added, hoping for a liquidity sweep through a key long BTC cluster.