Crypto stocks outlook ahead of FOMC meeting
- Bitcoin miners Core Scientific rose 33% as stocks of Bitfarms, Stronghold Digital, CleanSpark all ended the past week higher.
- Coinbase and Robinhood shares also rose as Bitcoin broke above $23,000.
- FOMC meeting is this week and the market reaction will be key to what next for Bitcoin and crypto stocks.
A number of crypto-related stocks are looking to extend gains notched in the past few days after closing in positive territory on Friday.
Among those to rip are share prices of crypto mining firms that had been struggling badly after reaching new all-time lows amid the crypto winter.
This is happening even as Bitcoin price looks to push higher after holding above the $23,000 level over the weekend. A crucial macro news event to watch out for is the FOMC meeting this week.
Surge in Bitcoin price helped crypto stocks
Core Scientific (CORZ), the world’s largest publicly-traded Bitcoin miner, surged an impressive 33% on Friday, while crypto mining firm Digihost Technology (DGHI) saw its shares jump more than 11%.
Stocks of NASDAQ-listed miners Bitfarms (BITF), Stronghold Digital Mining (SDIG), Bit Digital (BTBT) and CleanSpark (CLSK) all ended the week in the green. Elsewhere, NYSE-listed Bit Mining and SOS ADR also rose.
Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) stocks also traded higher, with the US-based crypto exchange’s stock soaring more than 15% on Friday. Coinbase‘s stock is up more than 73% in the past 30 days before markets open on Monday, 30 January. Robinhood shares ended the week 8% higher and were up nearly 28% over the past 30 days.
Bitcoin price, FOMC – what next for crypto stocks?
As noted, most of these publicly listed crypto companies saw their share prices soar alongside the positive price action of Bitcoin. But crypto has also largely correlated with stocks, with this week crucial in terms of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting.
On the positive side of things…
BTC/USD reached highs of $23,955 last week and is up more than 40% year-to-date. According to recent data from crypto analytics platform Glassnode, BTC’s recent upside momentum has the flagship digital asset’s price above three key on-chain metrics.
The breakout above $22,800 had Bitcoin above both the long term and short term cost-basis as well as Realized Price – the first time this has happened since 2020 COVID-19 induced crash. Also, the previous time when prevailing BTC price was above the three metrics was during the 2018/19 bear market.
On the flipside…
As covered by CoinJournal, Glassnode suggested last week that bulls managing to hold above the $22.4k level would aid sentiment and potential further gains. However, this week could see recent momentum derailed if investor reaction to the Federal Reserve’s FOMC minutes turns out to be negative.
Investors are bracing for another rate hike this week, with markets expecting a 25 basis point increase. @steveliesman reports on whether a #PowellPivot is close: pic.twitter.com/BGF5sRScXE
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 30, 2023
Although the market already expects a 25 basis point rate hike, some experts believe it would be a disaster for the markets if the Fed goes for a 50 basis point hike instead.
According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin was trading 1.1% down at 7:15 am ET on Monday as FOMC-related volatility likely began to set in across markets.
