It should be noted that the drama with banks around the world does not end. As we reported earlier, in mid-March three major financial institutions from the USA collapsed: Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature. Shortly thereafter it became known that the Swiss bank Credit Suisse was in trouble. As a result on Sunday it was decided to buy the bank for 3.25 billion dollars, which will be done by the biggest bank in the country, UBS.

Amusingly, former Credit Suisse CEO Tijan Thiam criticised Bitcoin in November 2017 and called the cryptocurrency a bubble.

Here is the banker’s relevant archived retort.

From our observations, the only reason to buy or sell bitcoins today is to try to make money. That is precisely the definition of speculation and a bubble.

Now Credit Suisse has had to go through a sell-off, which confirms its financial problems. At the same time Bitcoin is setting a high for the year and is clearly not going to rest.

Problems are also evident for First Republic, which ranks 14th among the largest banks in the US. Shares in the financial institution have fallen 47 per cent in the last 24 hours, making cryptocurrencies look more secure than ever.

US Fed changes strategy

March 22 is an important date for crypto investors – it’s the day the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will decide on another change to the benchmark lending rate. Previously, FOMC meetings have consistently stated that the rate will rise as long as the economy manages to cope with rising inflation.

Now the Fed is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the inflation problem is still unresolved and the rate has not reached its target. On the other hand, the recent collapse of several big banks could make the impact of another round of rate hikes much worse. There is a chance that financial institutions simply will not survive another rate hike period, well the bailout will require them to issue money, which will have a negative impact on inflation.

According to the FedWatch platform, the probability of a 25 basis point or 0.25 per cent rate hike is now much higher. That is, the Fed is likely to indeed raise the rate, but by a minimal step. This gives hope that, in the end, future inflation problems will not be as prominent as they might have been.

During the next FOMC meetings, on the other hand, the probability of a so-called plateau in interest rates, i.e., stabilisation, will be discussed. In this case, some analysts believe that by December of this year the rate will start to decline at all, which will add fuel to the new rally of the crypto market.

Recall that a lower key rate makes it cheaper to borrow money from banks. Consequently, businesses get more opportunities to raise funds and conditions for development. In such an environment, investors are increasingly focused on risky assets, as the availability of funds allows them to do so.

Bitcoin aims for a new record

This morning, the major cryptocurrency is trading just below the $28,000 line. From here, it’s not too far to the $30,000 level, a psychologically important resistance level.

A Twitter user called Material Incicators posted a chart showing a likely support level – it’s a moving average line with a period of 200 on the scale of a 1-week chart. Here is the corresponding chart.

Several more important levels on the chart have been spotted by popular crypto analyst Crypto Tony. Here’s his view of what’s going on. Apparently, the analyst assumes a further jump in BTC followed by capital flow into other cryptocurrencies.

There are more radical posts among prominent traders – investor Scott Melker, for example, has even declared the end of the global bearish trend. Here is his response to that.

The bearish trend is officially over. BTC has hit a second local high of $25,212 since the historical price record. This is confirmed by the new bull run. The price may still go down, but it will be a new trend, not a continuation of the previous one. Congratulations to everyone.

As we can see, analysts agree that Bitcoin is well-positioned to surpass the $30,000 level. The positive results of tomorrow's Federal Open Market Committee meeting may just contribute to that.

Crypto investors’ greed is at its highest

According to Cointelegraph’s sources, sentiment among traders is gradually approaching full euphoria. This is indicated by the dynamics of the Fear and Greed Index, created by experts at Alternative portal. By now it has already reached 68 points out of 100.

Comparison with the beginning of this year provides a stark contrast – in January the index did not exceed 30 points amid panic after the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange and general uncertainty. This could be dangerous for investors now – historically, market highs coincide with a peak in player euphoria, followed by a sell-off. However, it will take time to get all the answers about what is happening.


Obviously, the key event of the week will be the change of the base interest rate on Wednesday, which will be followed by the traditional speech of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. That said, the current speech will be rather strange. Even if Powell hints at policy easing and a further reduction of the key rate, it will hint at more inflation problems in the future. At the same time, a desire to raise the rate would mean new problems for banks and the economy as a whole. It is therefore difficult to see the prospect of a positive outcome in the current environment.


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