Bitcoin and crypto face these key events in the coming week

by James · April 17, 2023

The Bitcoin and crypto market is facing a “bullish vacuum” in the short term. In the wake of significantly lower-than-expected inflation figures (CPI and PPI) and the much-anticipated pivot from the US Federal Reserve, Bitcoin price was able to continue its bullish trend in recent weeks, reaching a new annual high of $30,968 last Friday .

After the last few weeks were always packed with important macro data, there are virtually no key data points in the coming two weeks. This will only change on 3 May, when the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the US central bank is scheduled.

Thus, there is a bullish vacuum until the beginning of May, where it seems likely that the entire crypto market and Bitcoin will continue its rally. Nevertheless, there are some events that are likely to affect the market this week as well. As we do every week on Monday, we look at the most important dates.

This will be crucial for bitcoin and crypto

On Tuesday, April 18, all eyes will be on Washington DC when US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler must justify his regulation of the US bitcoin and crypto industry. As Bitcoinist reported, Patrick McHenry, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, has scheduled the hearing.

McHenry wants to investigate Gensler’s actions against the US crypto industry. In an interview he said:

This will be our first regulatory hearing by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This will be about his regulations and his approach to digital assets. It will have a large general oversight over the SEC. When it comes to politics, [this will be] a serious approach in relation to us shutting down […] a regulatory sphere for digital assets.

Gensler is likely to face harsh scrutiny. French Hill (Republican) and Warren Davidson (Republican) are two crypto supporters who chair the Digital Assets Subcommittee. Davidson is one of Gensler’s biggest critics and recently posted a tweet calling for “Fire Gary” to become a bipartisan movement.

Thursday 20 April at At 08:30 (EST) weekly data on initial jobless claims in the US is due. Last week’s figures were again well above expectations. This week it is estimated at 240,000, against 239,000 last week.

The slowly cooling US labor market already manifested itself with a much weaker than expected JOLTS jobs report as well as weak NFP labor market data in recent weeks. If the latest initial jobless claims figures confirm this trend, it will be another warning sign of a US recession.

Should the labor market stabilize again and unemployment claims stop rising for the time being, this will be positive for the crypto market. The looming recession may at least be pushed back a bit or may turn out to be less severe due to a still robust labor market.

Third, investors should also keep an eye on the dollar index (DXY). DXY is at a critical point and could provide support for a further rally in Bitcoin and crypto if it continues to fall. Analyst Scott Melker recently shared the chart below and tired:

2 months later, the right shoulder has formed and the neckline is tested. Still just an idea but if the black line breaks this will confirm and we should see continued dollar weakness.