Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) began to show fresh volatility as Wall Street trading began on March 15, ahead of a crucial interest rate announcement from the United States Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro<\/a> and TradingView<\/a>\u00a0highlighted a roughly $500 fall for BTC\/USD after failing to reclaim $39,000 on the day.<\/p>\n An overnight push towards $40,000 had ended in disappointment<\/a> for bulls, setting the scene for lackluster performance into the Fed decision.<\/p>\n With inflation running wild, analysts believed that more than a 0.25% rate hike was unlikely due to the need to maintain equilibrium in a market already bloated from liquidity injections and uncertain, thanks to the Russia-Ukraine war.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottom line is we will proceed but we will proceed carefully as we learn more about the implications of the Ukraine war,\u201d Fed Chair Jerome Powell told<\/a> U.S. lawmakers earlier in March.<\/p>\n Bitcoin was characteristically volatile on the shortest timeframes but rangebound on longer ones at the time of writing, this behavior having characterized the largest cryptocurrency on many occasions throughout 2022.<\/p>\n Even March 14’s news that the European Union had rejected a legal amendment prohibiting offering services involving proof-of-work cryptocurrencies<\/a> failed to change the status quo.<\/p>\n For popular analyst Matthew Hyland, a decisive break of the 2022 range high or low was now needed in order to entertain a new perspective.<\/p>\n The only real move will be when #Bitcoin<\/a> breaks $46k or falls below $33k<\/p>\n Everything else is just noise!!! pic.twitter.com\/ujmVzYQq1v<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Matthew Hyland (@MatthewHyland_) March 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n “It interesting that we have spent more time closer to $46K than $33K,” he noted<\/a> as part of further comments. <\/p>\n “Could make the argument, demand is rising, selling pressure decreasing? Either way though, it wont sit in this range forever.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Fed announcement was due at 2 pm Eastern Time March 16, followed by a press conference by Powell a half-hour later.<\/p>\n On the topic of Bitcoin and its ranges, a longer-term view sought to convince timid market participants that all was not so bad on March 15.<\/p>\n Related:\u00a0Bitcoin\u2018s got 3 strikes, but investors remain calm despite price drop<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Analyzing poor sentiment across crypto, popular Twitter account “Cryptobirb” reasoned that since the start of 2021, BTC\/USD had still managed to post a series of higher highs and higher lows.<\/p>\n It’s intriguing how flat $BTC<\/a> performance has been for over a year already, while the traders’ sentiment compares to the hopeless depths of the 2018 bear market. The longer #Bitcoin<\/a> has moved sideways, the more depressed the traders got. Yet, the market’s made higher high and low pic.twitter.com\/0sHLu8nTuB<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CRYPTO\u20bfIRB (@crypto_birb) March 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n As Cointelegraph further reported, two years ago this week, Bitcoin traded at just $3,600<\/a> \u2014 more than ten times lower than at present.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2022-03\/9d970a68-6354-41a5-9ed2-34571ffc553e.png\")
Crunch time for the Fed on inflation<\/h2>\n
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Sentiment “compares” to 2018 bear market<\/h2>\n
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