“`html
A long-silent Bitcoin whale shifted approximately $116 million in the cryptocurrency after a dozen years, right before the US Federal Reserve’s highly scrutinized interest rate decision.
The unidentified whale emerged from a 12-year slumber to transfer 1,000 Bitcoin (BTC) — valued at around $116 million at present prices — which was initially obtained for approximately $847 each. At that time, the BTC was valued at about $847,000, which the whale held for over ten years before moving it to new wallets on Wednesday, as reported by blockchain data platform Lookonchain.
This transfer exceeding $100 million took place just prior to Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, a much-anticipated occasion that could signal the first US interest rate reduction of the year.
Related: Standard Chartered investment division aiming to raise $250M for digital asset fund: Report
Crypto investors prepare for market fluctuations ahead of FOMC meeting
Observers of the market regard the Fed’s decision as one of the year’s most consequential, with 96% of contributors expecting a 25 basis point reduction, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. This forecast has risen from 85% a month prior.
“Tomorrow is the most crucial FOMC of our lives …until the next one,” stated the founder and CEO of Into The Cryptoverse, Benjamin Cowen, in a Wednesday X post.
Related: Nasdaq-listed Helius announces $500M fundraising for Solana treasury
Despite the positive sentiment, the majority of cryptocurrency traders are preparing for a short-term downturn in the crypto market.
Currently, over 57% of Bitcoin holders across all exchanges are shorting, indicating they are speculating on a decline in Bitcoin’s price, while merely 42% maintain long positions, according to blockchain data from CoinAnk.
In the meantime, Bitcoin futures open interest dropped by more than $2 billion within five days, indicating a trend of de-risking among futures traders in anticipation of the FOMC meeting, as reported by Cointelegraph on Monday.
Nevertheless, traders on the largest exchange globally, Binance, have been purchasing Bitcoin ahead of the critical interest rate decision.
Binance recorded nine days of “productive outflows” for Bitcoin leading up to the FOMC meeting, a pattern that seems to be a “significant factor behind Bitcoin’s recent surge from $108k to +$115k,” according to the on-chain insights platform CryptoQuant.
Experts at Bank of America predict at least two interest rate reductions by the Fed in 2025 — one in September and another in November — while analysts at Goldman Sachs anticipate three 25 BPS reductions this year, as reported by Cointelegraph on Sept. 6.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g35eWceWuM[/embed>
Magazine: Bitcoin dominance is projected to decline in 2025: Benjamin Cowen, X Hall of Flame
Source link
“`