Bitcoin Surges Towards $30K as XRP Price Rises 6% Following Ripple’s Legal Win

Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed the $29,500 mark on October 20, fueled by a series of positive events, while XRP (XRP) experienced a price jump above $0.50 in response to Ripple’s recent legal victory.

Hawkish Fed Chair Powell Fails to Impact BTC Price

Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data tracked the BTC/USD pair as it approached its highest level in two months at the beginning of the week.

The leading cryptocurrency seemed to be influenced by events surrounding a speech delivered by Jerome Powell, the Chair of the United States Federal Reserve, the previous day.

As a U.S. bond sell-off was taking place, Powell was under pressure to use appropriate language, with some analysts predicting a “very dovish” tone from him. Ultimately, Powell’s speech, which was briefly interrupted by protesters, revealed a highly conservative outlook.

Referring to interest rate hikes, Powell stated, “The stance of policy is restrictive, meaning that tight policy is putting downward pressure on economic activity and inflation.”

“Given the fast pace of the tightening, there may still be meaningful tightening in the pipeline.”

Powell also highlighted the risk of hiking rates too aggressively, stating, “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.”

“Given the uncertainties and risks, and how far we have come, the Committee is proceeding carefully.”

Data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicated a shift in market expectations regarding future rate decisions.

According to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, it is now believed to be unanimous that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will keep rates unchanged at its next meeting on November 1. Prior to Powell’s speech, the odds were at 88%.

Following the speech, news broke that U.S. regulators had dropped criminal charges against executives of blockchain firm Ripple.

In response, the price of XRP surged over 6% in a 24-hour period at the time of writing.

Trader Predicts Impending Bitcoin Rally

Amid growing anticipation of the approval of a Bitcoin spot price exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, Bitcoin gained momentum overnight.

Related: Bitcoin metrics ‘improve bullish odds’ as BTC price holds 200-week trendline

At the time of writing, Bitcoin had reached a daily high of $29,689, just $200 below the peak of a sudden bout of volatility observed on October 17.

$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

“Bitcoin is slowly but surely filling the wick. Let’s aim for that $30k milestone,” wrote popular trader Jelle in his analysis, hinting at Bitcoin’s desire to fill the price gap observed on October 17.

Fellow trader CrypNuevo added, “Today is a very interesting day for trading… Bitcoin hit exactly $29,400, triggering numerous liquidations.”

In a series of posts, CrypNuevo shared liquidation data from the past few days and cautioned that long positions outnumbered shorts by a factor of four. He suggested that Bitcoin could experience a retracement during the U.S. trading session.

$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

This article does not provide investment advice or recommendations. Each investment and trading decision carries its own risks, and readers should conduct their research before making a decision.