Bitcoin and Altcoin Market Under Pressure as Fed Interest Rate Hike Fears Rise

Bitcoin and altcoins started the week well but experienced a sharp decline in the last 24 hours due to selling pressure from Asian markets and fears about a Fed interest rate hike. While BTC and ETH are under pressure, their prices remain above their 50-day moving averages.

This is seen as a sign of an uptrend by some analysts, but Omkar Godbole notes that only 29 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are trading above their 50-day averages. This suggests a general bearish trend for the market.

The 50-day simple moving average (SMA) is widely followed as a short-term trend indicator, and when the price breaks above this level, it's considered a sign that bullish momentum is forming. However, Godbole notes that overall investor sentiment towards altcoins remains weak.

Despite this, there's still hope for altcoins, with some analysts pointing to Ethereum's recent outperformance of Bitcoin as an indicator that other altcoins may soon see strong demand. The market is closely watching the Fed's interest rate decision in September, and Matthew Ryan from Ivery notes that a hawkish shock would unlikely happen given the futures market already reflects the possibility of a September interest rate hike.