The cryptocurrency market experienced a downturn on Wednesday following the release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held in June.
The minutes revealed that most Fed officials deemed it appropriate to implement additional increases in the target federal funds rate during 2023, with some even favoring a rate hike in June.
The hawkish tone of the FOMC meeting also impacted stocks, as traders chose to remain cautious ahead of the release of the June jobs report on Friday. The S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq all closed lower, with declines of 0.20%, 0.38%, and 0.18% respectively.
Bitcoin (BTC) saw its price drop below the $30,900 support level early in the day, reaching a low of $30,290 before recovering to trade above $30,500 later in the afternoon, according to data from TradingView. The decline in Bitcoin’s price, which began during the U.S. Independence Day holiday, led to weaker trading in July Bitcoin futures at the start of Wednesday’s session, as noted by Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff.
Wyckoff expressed a positive outlook, stating that the current pause and choppy trading at higher price levels do not indicate a bearish trend. He believes that the bulls are gathering momentum for another push higher in the near term, adding that they currently have the overall advantage from a technical perspective.
MN Trading analyst Luuk Koolen provided insights into the major resistance levels for BTC moving forward. He highlighted two key levels, with the first resistance at around $34.4k, located in the lower part of the monthly order block. The second resistance, around $37k, coincides with the end of the monthly fair value gap (FVG) and acts as another form of resistance. If Bitcoin manages to break through both resistance zones, Koolen expects the price to target liquidity around $48k.
On the weekly timeframe, Koolen suggested that it is logical for Bitcoin to continue its uptrend and at least test the $35k level. He emphasized a strong resistance zone around $37.5k, formed by the weekly FVG and order block, which aligns with the upper part of the monthly FVG. Breaking through this area may pose a challenge for BTC, but it represents a good target for swing long positions, given the visibility of monthly liquidity on the weekly timeframe.
Analyzing the daily chart, Koolen highlighted the likelihood of a correction due to a sweep of liquidity at the upper end. He stated that it would make sense for Bitcoin to test support levels below $30k, rebound, and move towards the liquidity at $32.4k. Koolen personally sees dips below $30k as excellent opportunities to accumulate long positions, considering the overall picture on higher timeframes.
In the altcoin market, many tokens in the top 200 experienced a sell-off as traders took profits in response to the hawkish sentiment from the Fed. Only a dozen tokens managed to avoid losses for the day. Notable gainers included Verge, Solar and Threshold, while Storj and BitDAO saw declines of 14.77% and 11.29% respectively.
With the overall cryptocurrency market cap currently standing at $1.19 trillion, Bitcoin’s dominance rate remains at 49.8%.
Featured Image: Freepik
Author Kristen Moran 
