Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Take A Plunge Amid Strengthening US Dollar— Could Bitcoin Halving Turn the Tables?

Major cryptocurrencies continued to decline Wednesday, primarily due to macro-economic factors and volatility around the upcoming April 20 Bitcoin halving.

Bitcoin is down more than 1%, adding to an 8.8% seven-day drop, while Ether is sliding 2% and almost 13% in the past week, and Dogecoin is down 3%. Global cryptocurrency market cap stood at $2.39 trillion, a 0.9% decrease in the past 24 hours, as of 10:30am EST, according to data from CoinGecko.

Michael Van de Poppe, a cryptocurrency analyst and CEO and founder of the consultancy and educational platform MNTrading in a message toThe Defiant said Bitcoin on Tuesday rejected $64,000 levels at the first resistance, after which consolidation continues.

“After such a volatile event, volatility is likely going to decrease before a new big impulse happens,” Van de Poppe said.

Powell’s Comments

The S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq was down 0.1%, following remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested that interest rates might need to remain higher.

In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 63.86 points, or 0.17%, reaching 37,798.97, breaking a six-day streak of losses.

Market activity was volatile after Powell's comments. “More recent data shows solid growth and continued strength in the labor market, but also a lack of further progress so far this year on returning to our 2% inflation goal,” the Fed chief said during a panel discussion.

Meanwhile, traders are also keeping an eye on the situation in the Middle East following Iran's missile and drone launch at Israel on Saturday.

Strengthening US Dollar

The US dollar is currently experiencing its best five-day run since February 2023, with its strengthening attributed to expectations of sustained higher interest rates.

“Less than a month ago, markets were anticipating the Fed to start cutting in June. Higher for longer is now the base case,” wrote markets research firm The Kobeissi Letter in a Tuesday post on X (formerly Twitter).

A strengthening dollar is often a response to the US Federal Reserve's policies, like raising interest rates to combat inflation. Higher interest rates can increase the yield of dollar-denominated financial assets, making them more attractive compared to risk assets like Bitcoin.

On April 16, Powell stated the country's current inflation rate of 3.5% is not heading towards the central bank's 2% goal. Powell suggested that it's likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index (BBDXY), which measures the U.S. dollar's value against a collection of ten major world currencies, has risen roughly 2% in the past five trading sessions. To put into context, this surge represents the most significant growth the index has experienced in the span of the last 14 months.

Bitcoin Halving

Another major factor driving volatility in cryptocurrency markets is the Bitcoin halving, which is just three days away, on April 20. This process will reduce the amount of BTC that can be mined per block by 50%, impacting the cryptocurrency market.

Despite the halving, investors are displaying a higher level of confidence in crypto assets compared to the 2020 halving event, as indicated by Bitcoin's dominance chart. Three days before the 2020 halving, Bitcoin dominance stood at a ratio 15% higher than its current level of 51.6%, according to Coingecko.

Data from CoinGlass shows, in the past 24 hours, a total of 60,820 future traders experienced liquidations worth $171.64 million.

The largest single liquidation occurred on the OKX crypto exchange, specifically on the ETH-USD swap, with a value of $5.61 million.

The crypto market Fear and Greed Index currently sits at '67', indicating a state of Greed. This index provides insights into the sentiment of the Bitcoin market, condensed into a simple meter ranging from 0 to 100. A reading of 0 signifies "Extreme Fear," while 100 represents "Extreme Greed."

Meanwhile, trader Justin Bennett doesn’t seem to be impressed by the anticipated Bitcoin halving momentum.

“Massively unpopular opinion: The next #Bitcoin halving has the potential to be a sell-the-news event,” he said on X. Bennett added that the fact that Bitcoin retested the previous cycle’s high for the first time previous to any other halving, plus “what's happening around the world, what bond yields have done recently, the US dollar, housing starts in the US falling off a cliff, sticky inflation, the stock market rolling over, etc. – You get the idea”