Bitcoin

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 Bitcoin keeps heading higher as BTC price strength flies in the face of a hawkish Fed, but concerns over a retracement are building.
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 Bitcoin (BTC) passed $29,500 on Oct. 20 after an eventful 24 hours boosted BTC <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="price" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/price.html">price</a> trajectory while&nbsp;XRP&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="price" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/price.html">price</a> jumped above $0.50 in response to Ripple's big <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="legal" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/legal.html">legal</a> win.&nbsp;
 <figure><img src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/10/20/4d9509b8c4f183e8e98f24ed34fb746c.webp">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView
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 <h2 id="hawkish-fed-s-powell-fails-to-dent-btc-price">Hawkish Fed's Powell fails to dent BTC price</h2>
 Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it edged closer to two-month highs from the start of the week.
 The largest cryptocurrency appeared to feed off events surrounding a speech from Jerome Powell, Chair of the United States Federal Reserve, the day prior.
 Amid a U.S. bond rout, Powell was under pressure to deliver appropriate wording, and <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="Category Analysis" href="https://thebittimes.com/analysis.html">Analysis</a> even predicted a “very dovish” tone would dominate. In the event, the speech, which was briefly interrupted by protesters, saw Powell highly conservative on the outlook.
 “The stance of policy is restrictive, meaning that tight policy is putting downward pressure on economic activity and inflation,” he said about interest rate hikes.
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 “Given the fast pace of the tightening, there may still be meaningful tightening in the pipeline.”
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 Powell said that the Fed acknowledged the potential problems of hiking rates too far.
 “Doing too little could allow above-target inflation to become entrenched and ultimately require monetary policy to wring more persistent inflation from the economy at a high cost to employment. Doing too much could also do unnecessary harm to the economy,” he continued.
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 “Given the uncertainties and risks, and how far we have come, the Committee is proceeding carefully.”
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 Data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed changing tides among market expectations when it comes to future rate decisions.
 At its next meeting on Nov. 1, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is now unanimously thought to hold rates at their current levels, per data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. Before Powell, odds stood at 88%.
 <figure><img src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/10/20/f037c45900ce1d7a429f8b57b05f08e6.webp">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">Fed target rate probabilities chart. Source: CME Group
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 Following the speech, news broke that U.S. regulators had dropped criminal charges against executives of Blockchain firm Ripple.
 XRP price responded immediately, trading up over 6% in 24 hours at the time of writing.
 <figure><img src="https://cdn.thebittimes.com/images/2023/10/20/b19547aa2c4ee87729000c6596327606.webp">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">XRP/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView
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 <h2 id="trader-suggests-bitcoin-impulse-is-here">Trader suggests Bitcoin "impulse" is here</h2>
 Amid a backdrop of increasing anticipation over approval of a U.S. Bitcoin spot <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="price" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/price.html">price</a> exchange-traded fund (ETF), Bitcoin gained momentum overnight.
 Related:&nbsp;Bitcoin metrics ‘improve bullish odds’ as BTC <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="price" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/price.html">price</a> holds 200-week trendline
 At the time of writing, the day’s highs stood at $29,689 — just $200 from the top of a snap volatility wick seen on Oct. 17.
 <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
 $BTC has launched. Keeping it as simple as it can get: The same way 26.8k was the origin of our last impulse, 28.6k is now the origin of the current one. Above that, we are going A LOT higher, FAST. Drop below 28.6k and the local uptrend will be violated and we may get a bit… https://t.co/odakQpZbTL pic.twitter.com/CbhLBo133G— CrediBULL Crypto (@CredibleCrypto) October 20, 2023
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 “Bitcoin filling the wick, slowly but surely. Let's go for that $30k tap,” popular trader Jelle wrote in part of X analysis on the day, having previously argued that Bitcoin looked “eager to fill” the Oct. 17 wick.
 “Today it's going a very interesting day for trading... They have hit exactly $29400 where there were many liquidations,” fellow trader CrypNuevo continued.
 In various X posts, CrytpNuevo uploaded liquidation data from the past days, warnings that long positions outnumbered shorts four to one. Bitcoin, he suggested, could retrace during the U.S. trading session.
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 $BTC Liquidation levels and liquidation heatmaps. Quick thoughts: - All our liquidation levels to the upside from yesterday have been hit. - Delta long liquidations at $15B (mid-high amount and enough to consider a retrace is coming soon). - Current long-short open positions… pic.twitter.com/dAqbRbaimc— CrypNuevo (@CrypNuevo) October 20, 2023
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 This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
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Source: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/bitcoin-eyes-30k-xrp-price-jumps-6-after-ripple-s-legal-victory-tbt67088.html">https://thebittimes.com/bitcoin-eyes-30k-xrp-price-jumps-6-after-ripple-s-legal-victory-tbt67088.html</a>

Bitcoin eyes $30K, XRP price jumps 6% after Ripple's legal victory

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