Bitcoin (BTC) entered the new month on a relatively low-key note, at least in comparison to the electrifying events in the spot markets throughout October.
After soaring above $35,000 for the first time in 17 months towards the end of October, BTC/USDT has since levelled off, while broadly managing to stick above the 34k support line.
Hype surrounding the prospect of spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund approvals persists, though the hype appears to be fully priced into the market for now.
Tuesday saw around half a percentage point added to the BTC/USDT pair, closing the session at $34,640.
This morning’s trades wiped out those Tuesday gains, sending bitcoin’s spot price back down to $34,460.
As is common with bitcoin, there is a strong prospect of a thousand-dollar-wide sideways channel forming, with Binance’s order book showing strong buying support at 34k and sell orders at 35k.
This, however, is contingent on no new surprises in the news cycle, which is far from a surety.
Bitcoin shows signs of consolidation following a bullish October – Source: tradingview.com
Today sees the US Federal Reserve announce its next interest rate decision. The market is essentially unanimous in predicting a hold at 5.5%, which is unlikely to move the bitcoin needle.
However, any hawkish surprises could weigh on risk assets including bitcoin.
As for Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency on the market remains particularly volatile, with the bulls struggling to keep the ETH/USDT pait above the 200-day moving average trendline.
The pair bounced off this trendline yesterday to close the session 0.3% higher at $1,814, before falling back to $1,806 this morning.
But early-week ether gains have supported a strong week-on-week performance, adding 1.8% against bitcoin’s 1.5%.
In the broader altcoin space, Solana (SOL) remains in front place among the blue chips, adding 23% over the past seven days.
Ripple (XRP) is currently in second place, while Binance’s BNB token has dipped into the red.
Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation currently stands at $1.28 trillion, with bitcoin dominance at 53.83%.
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