Bitcoin Dips Under $70K as Stocks Tumble on Hawkish Fed Hold—What’s Next?

Crypto and stocks plunged following the two-day policy meeting, where the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to hold interest rates steady.

The Fed’s decision to keep rates unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%, combined with escalating Middle East tensions and inflation risks, sent Bitcoin tumbling by over 4% to an intraday low of $69,537, according to CoinGecko data.

The Nikkei, gold, and the S&P 500 fell nearly 3.2%, 3%, and 1%, respectively, in response to the FOMC. Though oil prices spiked by more than 2% initially, the gains were eventually undone, with the asset trading down 1% since the policy meeting.

As a result, investor confidence has taken a hit. That is reflected in prediction market Myriad, owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, where users now assign a 50% chance that Bitcoin rallies to $84,000 next—down from highs of 63% yesterday.

Adding to the macro-driven selling pressure, two Bitcoin whales offloaded 650 and 5,000 BTC Wednesday, totaling over $117 million, according to on-chain intelligence platform Arkham.

Bitcoin’s sudden drop from $75,000 to below $70,000 triggered over $511 million in liquidations across the market over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data, $417 million of which were long positions.

Looking ahead, Bitcoin is likely to stay within a contained range, experts told Decrypt.

“The $70,000–$72,000 zone is emerging as an important near-term support, with ETF inflows helping to absorb supply around these levels,” Rachel Lin, CEO of decentralized crypto exchange SynFutures, told Decrypt.

Despite sustained Bitcoin ETF inflows totaling over $2 billion over the past four weeks, Adam Chu, chief researcher at options analytics platform GreeksLive, believes Bitcoin could continue to consolidate.

The March 27 expiry, $14.05 billion in notional open interest, is one of the largest open interest concentrations of the year, with clustering around the $74,000 to $75,000 range.

“With the quarterly settlement week approaching, Bitcoin may enter a period of relatively low volatility unless major events occur,” Chu told Decrypt.