Bitcoin (BTC) Monthly Market Review – July 2023

Bitcoin [BTC] traded fairly unchanged on the last day of July in the immediate aftermath of the Federal Open Market Committee's interest rate decision.

Bitcoin [BTC] closed July relatively flat in the immediate aftermath of the Federal Open Market Committee’s interest rate decision.

Meeting market expectations, Fed policymakers maintained the benchmark federal funds rate within the 5.25%-5.50% range. Now that June’s FOMC meeting is in the past, traders are looking ahead to the first rate cut of the year, which could come as early as September.

In his remarks following the FOMC meeting, Chair Jerome Powell mentioned that there are ongoing discussions about a September rate cut, the possibility of which hinges on strong economic growth figures.

An interest rate cut outcome would likely boost liquidity in the market, which in turn tends to be favorable for cryptocurrencies.

July trendsA minor crypto pullback ahead of the monthly close erased some of Bitcoin’s gains, with Coinglass showing that the flagship crypto managed only 2.95% returns throughout July.

Source: TradingView

The meager positive returns nevertheless set the stage for Bitcoin to pursue new yearly price highs.

In contrast, Ethereum [ETH] fared worse, losing 5.88% in the same period despite positive influences, such as the launch of US-based spot Ether ETFs.

As a result, the ETH/BTC ratio fell throughout July, decreasing by 10.72% by the end of the month.

Source: TradingView

Among the large-cap altcoins, MANTRA [OM] and Helium [HNT] emerged as the best performers in July, generating returns of 44% and 36%, respectively, over the course of the month.

On the other hand, Fantom [FTM], Flare [FLR], and Starknet [STRK] all lost more than 30%.

August expectationsA bargaining-hunting theme persisted last month as addresses with a balance of at least 0.1% of BTC’s circulating supply added around 84,000 BTC to their stashes, according to IntoTheBlock’s Bitcoin ownership data.

This scoop marked the highest accumulation pace since October 2014.

Separately, IntoTheBlock reported in an X (formerly Twitter) post that daily new addresses were up by 35% on the 30th of July since touching multi-year lows in early June.

Source: IntoTheBlock

Historically, strong accumulation by whale and shark investors has hinted at anticipation of a breakout to the upside from the current ranges.

Renewed inflows of capital into the crypto market further supported the bullish sentiment.

CCData noted in its latest Stablecoins & CBDCs report that the total market capitalization of stablecoins increased by 2.11% in July, reaching $164 billion — its highest level since April 2022.

Technical outlookBitcoin has been trading within the bounded ranges of $58,000 and $70,000 for five months.

Bullish traders aimed to flip the prevailing resistance at $69,600, as it will bring into view $72,000, which presented the next significant barrier to challenging March’s all-time high.

Thus far, bears have fiercely defended the upper boundaries of the prevailing consolidation range, successfully stymieing attempts to crack the $70,000 mark.

Multiple rejections above $69,600 since March indicated that BTC price needs a strong catalyst to overcome the hurdle.