Bitcoin Approaches $75,000 Mark: Short Covering Drives Rally, Fed Decision in Focus

Gate News Report, March 17 — On the eve of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision announcement, Bitcoin briefly reached a high of $75,912 before retreating to around $74,372, indicating persistent selling pressure above a key resistance zone. Despite limited intraday volatility, the weekly performance remains strong, with major cryptocurrencies generally recording significant gains over the past seven days.

Market analysis suggests that this rally is primarily driven by changes in derivatives market structure rather than new spot market inflows. A large number of $60,000 put options were closed, causing market makers to buy spot assets passively to hedge risks, which pushed prices higher. However, when prices fell back below $74,400, buying interest weakened, as this zone had previously served as a long-term support level.

In terms of sector performance, Ethereum rose approximately 13.3% over the past week to $2,316, XRP increased about 11%, Solana about 9.7%, Dogecoin about 9.5%, and BNB around 5%, indicating a short-term risk appetite rebound in the market.

Meanwhile, institutional capital inflows continue to provide support. Data shows that the US spot Bitcoin ETF saw a net inflow of about $767 million last week, marking the third consecutive week of positive inflows, reflecting signs of market recovery. Analysts note that sustained capital inflows can help improve market structure, but whether this trend will continue remains to be seen.

It is also noteworthy that the correlation between Bitcoin and gold is changing. Over the past few months, their relationship has shifted from negative to positive correlation, reigniting discussions around Bitcoin as “digital gold.” Since early March, Bitcoin has outperformed gold significantly.

On the macro front, the Federal Reserve meeting remains the biggest variable. The market generally expects interest rates to stay within the 3.5% to 3.75% range, but the real market impact will come from the dot plot and Chairman Jerome Powell’s statements. With oil prices remaining high and employment data weakening, policy path uncertainty persists.

Analysts believe that without new fundamental catalysts, the current rally driven by short covering may not be sustainable, and future movements will depend on macro signals and capital flow changes.