Bitcoin (BTC) Defies DeepSeek Sell-Off, FOMC Uncertainty; Analysts Predict New ATH in February

In the past few days, Bitcoin (BTC) has withstood two key developments that could have derailed the cryptocurrency’s bullish momentum.

Bitcoin (BTC) price has shown remarkable resilience amidst two key developments that could have hindered its bullish momentum. These include a deep sell-off in US stocks, triggered by Chinese AI firm DeepSeek's open-source LLM unveiling, and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

Bitcoin Price Unfazed By DeepSeek Sell-Off, FOMC Uncertainty

Over the past week, US stock markets have seen a deep sell-off, following DeepSeek's announcement. The sell-off was led by NVIDIA stock, which crashed by 16% in a single day as concerns arose over the high market valuation of American AI firms.

As a result of the sell-off, the S&P 500 index saw another blow, adding to its poor performance in 2023. At press time, the index is down 1.25% over the past five days.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has shown strength in the past week. After initially dipping to lows of $104,000 in response to the DeepSeek news, BTC recovered quickly and began to rally.

At press time, BTC is trading at $105,839, showing gains of 1.53% over the past five days. Interestingly, BTC has outperformed the S&P 500 in the short term.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

Bitcoin price chart showing strong bullish momentum past $105,000 on March 8, 2024 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

In other markets news, the FOMC concluded its latest two-day meeting on Wednesday, keeping interest rates on hold as expected. However, the Federal Reserve officials signaled that they will continue raising rates in 2024, albeit at a slower pace.

This hawkish stance from the Fed was expected to deal another blow to crypto markets, which are highly sensitive to interest rate changes. But Bitcoin price remained relatively unscathed after the initial dip.

Bitcoin Price May Target New ATH In February

Seasoned crypto trader Pentoshi commented on Bitcoin's strength in the past few days, stating that the digital asset has “held up well.” They added that BTC is now “coiling for another leg up.” According to the trader, there is no reason why Bitcoin shouldn't hit a new all-time high (ATH) soon.

Another Bitcoin enthusiast, Castillo Trading, noted that Bitcoin's price structure “looks flawless on lower and higher timeframes.” They added that both lower- and higher-time frames suggest that BTC will likely go higher.

In a similar vein, crypto trader and entrepreneur Michael van de Poppe said that the market will likely see a new BTC ATH in the “coming weeks,” perhaps hinting at February as the target month.

Finally, crypto trader Roman shared the following chart, commenting that “Stoch & RSI have plenty of room to break $108,000 resistance and head higher.” They added that bullish divergence on BTC is also playing out nicely.

For the uninitiated, both Stochastic Oscillator (Stoch) and Relative-Strength Index (RSI) are momentum indicators that help traders identify whether the underlying asset is oversold or overbought in current market conditions.

While projections for a new BTC ATH may be focused on the short-term, market cycle peaks are expected to occur in the summer of 2025. For instance, a recent report by Bitfinex forecasts that BTC could surge to $200,000 by mid-2025, amid shallow price pullbacks.

Meanwhile DeepSeek predicts that BTC may top out between $500,000 and $600,000 by Q1 2026. At press time, BTC trades at $105,839, up 3.1% in the past 24 hours.