Last week, bitcoin price fell more than 10 percent. It appears that the bulls have finally given in to pressure from the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes. Not even news of a BlackRock ETF in the US can keep the price up. There is a major central bank symposium this week, with the key topic on Friday being the Federal Reserve Chairman’s speech.
ALL EYES ARE ON JACKSON HOLE THIS WEEK (FRIDAY)🚨
LAST YEAR, JEROME POWELL SUSPENDED THE MARKETS WITH HIS RHETORIC THAT, COMBINED WITH A HISTORICALLY BAD MONTH FOR STOCKS (SEPTEMBER), PULLED THE S&P 500 NEARLY 20% FROM HIGH TO LOW!
WHAT DO YOU THINK POWELL WILL DO/SAY THIS YEAR?👀 pic.twitter.com/4Rw703EbGT
– BACH (@MortensenBach) August 20, 2023
What will Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell say on Friday and what does it mean for bitcoin price?
Will the US Federal Reserve surprise on Friday?
The annual Jackson Hole symposium begins Friday and all the major central bankers are in attendance. ECB President Christine Lagarde is also on the program as a speaker. However, the focus is on the US Federal Reserve and it is not to be expected that it will change its strategy.
The Federal Reserve has been saying for months that the financial markets will have to struggle with the high interest rates we are currently experiencing. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is a smart and practical man who knows the importance of not surprising.
At his press conferences, he talks a lot but says little. In this way, Powell is trying to keep the Federal Reserve’s options open, and of course he has every right to do so. Though Powell caused quite the crash after his speech last year.
The theme of the symposium is “Structural Changes in the Global Economy,” suggesting that the Federal Reserve expects interest rates to remain slightly higher in the coming years than they have been over the past decade. Basically, this is not a good development for the Bitcoin price.
Exciting week for Bitcoin
Incidentally, the Jackson Hole Symposium is not the only interesting event this week. The much-discussed BRICS conference will also take place in South Africa from August 22nd to 24th. The BRICS alliance is a bloc of countries that includes China, Russia, India and Brazil; who, according to the media, are working on a gold-backed currency to attack the US dollar.
Digital Bank BRICS pic.twitter.com/2CYwmyAfVY
— Sprinter (@Sprinter99800) August 21, 2023
We’ll no doubt be hearing more (or nothing) about that this week. However, we should not approach the attack on the US dollar realistically just yet. There is simply no serious alternative to the current world reserve currency.
Doing so will require trust in the issuer, and the West is unlikely to rely on a Sino-Russian currency any time soon.
Also this week we get the earnings from NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), which has been doing fantastic since the artificial intelligence explosion. All in all, Bitcoin has another exciting week ahead. The focus is on the Jackson Hole Symposium.