Any change in central bank policies from Japan ruffled feathers in the forex market, but bitcoin is linked to trading areas near a two-month high.
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It faced a potentially volatile day on January 18, with several macro triggers beginning to unsettle the outlook.
BTC/USD 1 Hour Candlestick Chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView
Boz chooses to hike
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed that BTC/USD holding firms were above $21,000 on the day.
The pair were amused by the news from Japan, where the central bank – the Bank of Japan (BOJ) – decided to defy expectations of an interest rate rise and implement too easy a policy
In doing so, the Japanese yen and the United States dollar took a hit in the latest chapter of a saga closely watched by crypto commentators
“By keeping its key rate, yield curve control policies unchanged at today’s meeting, the Bank of Japan probably wanted to send a message to the market; don’t fight the BoJ,“ ING Bank said in a dedicated response piece.
Cointelgraph contributor Michael van de Poppe noted the new decline in the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) following the news.
“DXY is having another bearish retest, in which it is starting to fall significantly, perhaps also because of the BOJ announcement earlier today,” he summarized
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The DXY soared to 101.9 at the event, failing to retest its seven-month low on January 16 at all.
US Dollar Index (DXY) 1-Hour Candle Chart. Source: TradingView
Van de Poppe also noted data coming from the US in the form of the December 2022 Producer Price Index (PPI).
“In a few hours, we will get the PPI number and retail sales,” he added.
“There might be some wandering around later.”
The BTC whale bid is in question
Meanwhile, doubts swirled around the activity in the Binance order book in the bitcoin market as traders placed large volumes of higher bid liquidity
Related: Bitcoin hits new post-FTX high as analysis warns of ‘choreographed’ move.
On-chain analytics resource, Material Indicators, argued that one entity is potentially driving the bid higher, helping BTC/USD reach a two-month high.
“Assuming he could be the same whale that uses $4M to insulate his $22M and gives him enough time to rug $22M if $4M hits. It’s just a theory. Time will tell,” he said in one of several Twitter posts on 17 January.
The subsequent tweet however raised concerns about “how long can they keep this up”, implying that the corrective move could still kill bitcoin.
BTC/USD Order Book Data (Binance). Source: Content Pointers/ Twitter
The latest snapshot of the Binance order book shows the strongest resistance clustered at $22,000.
The views, opinions and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
