Week of little movement in cryptos, heavily influenced by the Fed´s policy

The world's largest cryptocurrency is falling around 0.3% and trades in the vicinity of $19,000, support it has recently lost; the next important support is at $18,900 and if broken, BTC could be firmly on its way to $18,500. The largest 'altcoin' pulls back a bit further and battles to regain the $1,300 level.

All in all, "Bitcoin has remained in a tight range," noted Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptoasset manager BitBull Capital. The expert believes that "for now," the market remains "indecisive" and waiting "for the economy to settle and inflation readings to start to reverse."

So far in October, the price of digital currencies has been changing without finding a definite trend. What is certain is that the unusual lack of volatility in the market is attracting the attention of analysts. Amid an admittedly gloomy macro picture triggered by high inflation, rising interest rates and growing recession fears, cryptocurrencies have become highly correlated with other risk-sensitive assets and have fallen in tandem with the major U.S. selectives.

"Cryptocurrencies are keeping their feet on the ground as a major move in yields is driving the strong dollar trade," explained Oanda analyst, Edward Moya, who commented that BTC's resilience has been "impressive," but "will likely be tested in these next few weeks."

On the other hand, Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff pointed out that "the low volatility and sideways, choppy trading range has been sustained over the past five weeks," which has caused the anxiety level among traders to rise, as the tightening spiral is bound to spiral sooner or later. "Bulls continue to fight for control, with none having a decisive edge. That suggests more of the same in the short term," he stated.

According to Kitco, consensus estimates that BTC will likely reach lower prices in the near term as economic headwinds continue to build. Adding to this thesis is Marcus Storiou, an analyst at GlobalBlock, who believes Bitcoin "could be establishing a floor from $17,600 to around $19,000, before a major relief rally to the upside." "Selling pressure continues to be absorbed, despite the negative macroeconomic news," the expert added.

Michaël van de Poppe, CEO of Eight Global, believes that much of this lack of definition is due to the Federal Reserve (Fed) policy. "The most 'hawkish' central bank in history towards a debt-to-GDP ratio of 5.6%, the highest in history," the analyst stated.

Investor optimism, driven by better-than-expected corporate earnings, seems to have faded. Concerns about central bank policy and interest rates have come back into focus. This has pushed bond yields higher, adding pressure to risk bets. Higher yields on government bonds, considered safe havens for investors, make riskier assets, such as Bitcoin, less attractive. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose above 4.17% on Thursday, reaching highs not seen in 2007.

Therefore, the consensus expects a fourth consecutive 75 basis point hike by the US Fed: according to data from the CME Fed Watch tool, analysts give a 97% probability that the central bank will repeat this move again at its November 2 monetary policy meeting.

As for the rest of the altcoins, there were few movements. The accumulated losses of ADA (Cardano) and Solana (SOL) in the last seven days stand out, both with declines of more than 10%.