Bitcoin Ends April 2022 as Worst Month, Here's Projections Ahead

Bitcoin ended April with the price slumping 17%, the worst month in 2022. While in early May, Bitcoin price was still below US $ 40,000. Forward projection? Referring to CoinMarketCap data on Tuesday (2/5) at 08.30 WIB, Bitcoin price was at US$ 38,394.93 or slightly down 0.70% in the last 24 hours and 5.40% for one week. Bitcoin investors are in the midst of ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and a possible hike in US interest rates this week. “Right now, there is no major bullish catalyst on the horizon and Bitcoin is likely to move within its current range or drop lower,” Joe DiPasquale, CEO of BitBull Capital, told CoinDesk. "The minimal bullish catalyst is still visible and the US stock market has shown a decline and the US dollar index is up. All these factors continue to weigh on Bitcoin," he said. DiPasquale noted that the U.S. central bank's decision, the Fed, to try to tame inflation through more hawkish rate hikes "could result in price volatility" for Bitcoin. The decline in the price of cryptocurrencies in recent days is largely in keeping with the major US stock indexes, as investors stay away from riskier assets. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4% on Friday (29/4) last week. While the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.6% and 2.7%, respectively. With Bitcoin price failing to hold on to the $42,000 level, "we continue to see the $38,000 level as support, but further testing of this range could result in a breakout towards $35,000-32,000," said DiPasquale. "Bulls will want to see a stop in the bleeding and new serious buyers come in once they are convinced of a trend reversal," he added. Head of Research at 3iQ Digital Asset Mark Connors noted the potential divergence in volatility between US stocks and Bitcoin will continue. The volatility of the world's largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization has decreased significantly over the past five years. In fact, when stock volatility increases, a sign of increased confidence in digital assets. However, "If interest rates continue to rise and push credit lower, the risk of liquidation and deleveraging will impact all assets, including crypto (lower prices) in the short term," Connors told CoinDesk. However, Connors sees no material price impact on crypto in such developments, and sets an optimistic note for Bitcoin regardless of the size of the rate hike and the stock's performance. "Bitcoin will outperform equities regardless of rate hikes, our data shows."