Bitcoin consolidates around 42,500. Buy at potential rise to 43,500, sell at drop to 41,500. Market awaits key news amidst Fed's stance.

Bullish view

• Buy the BTC/USD pair and set a take-profit at 43,500.
• Add a stop-loss at 41,500.
• Timeline: 1-3 days.

Bearish view

• Sell the BTC/USD pair and set a sell-stop at 41,500.
• Add a stop-loss at 43,500.

(Click on image to enlarge)

Bitcoin and other risky assets remained on edge as a sense of fear spread in the financial market. The BTC/USD pair remained at 42,500 as traders waited for the next important news. It is still slightly above the post-ETF low of $38,500.

Risk-off sentiment

Traders have embraced a risk-on sentiment in the past few days after the Federal Reserve decision and strong nonfarm payrolls (NFP) data. The Fed, as was widely expected, decided to leave interest rates unchanged.

The only change was that the Fed sounded a bit hawkish as it pushed back against the rising expectations that it will start cutting interest rates in the coming months. Precisely, many analysts, including Bill Ackman, were expecting the bank to start cutting rates in its March meeting.

Jerome Powell and Raphael Bostic continued this tone in their recent statements. Powell pushed back against rate cuts in an interview with CBS while Raphael Bostic warned that conditions were not ripe to start cutting.

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