Bitcoin Price Retests Key Support as Fed Rate Hike Fears Take Hold

•Bitcoin (BTC) traded back below $27,000 on May 19 amid increasing market expectations of an interest rate hike by the United States Federal Reserve in June.
•Analysis flagged large-volume trades pressuring price and pushing BTC/USD to lows of $26,380 on Bitstamp, with a modest recovery taking the pair to its familiar range.
•CME Group’s FedWatch Tool showed odds of the Fed pausing its hiking cycle next month dropping from 95% at one point to 62%, while owners of bid and ask liquidity were identified as manipulating BTC price behavior.

Bitcoin Price Retests Key Support

Bitcoin (BTC) traded back below $27,000 on May 19 as analysis flagged large-volume trades pressuring price. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting lows of $26,380 on Bitstamp. A modest recovery then took the pair to a range familiar from several days prior, this still in focus prior to the week’s final Wall Street open.

Inflation Specter Haunts Crypto Markets

Downside overnight came courtesy of increasing market expectations of an interest rate hike by the United States Federal Reserve in June. These came thanks to low jobless claims data for the week, with Fed officials adding a hawkish tone. According to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, the odds of the Fed pausing its hiking cycle next month dropped from 95% at one point to 62%.

Liquidity Manipulation

Listeners monitoring resource Material Indicators showed owners of bid and ask liquidity placing trades to manipulate BTC price behavior on short timeframes. As price began to drop, a ladder of bids was rugged and price moved to prior support ~$26.5k but a sell wall was quickly placed to suppress price.

JPow’s Appearance

After chopping sideways markets began pricing in potential for another rate hike as morning’s Jobless Report and FED speakers set tone ahead of JPow’s appearance scheduled for Friday.

Moving Average Re-Test

BTC/USD performed a retest of the 100-day moving average (MA) — its third in past several weeks — which it failed again just shy of resistance near $27,500