The week of all dangers for crypto-currencies in four announcements…

The crypto market has witnessed a splendid rally, starting the year with positive sentiment among traders. A broader market rally continued throughout the month, with the price of bitcoin climbing more than 40 percent in January to a high of $23,861 on January 29.

While investors were pleased with the rise, experienced traders were expecting a pullback, as the crypto market enters a crucial week with many global events that may impact its rise. Today, there was a broader market collapse, with the price of bitcoin dropping more than 2% in a matter of hours.

Key events to watch this week

1. U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates

The U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate hike decision at the FOMC meeting on Wednesday. The market expects the Fed to scale back its interest rate hikes and opt for a 25 basis point increase. However, the possibility of a 50 basis point hike is still on the table.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have warned that the U.S. economy is at risk of a severe recession. Despite slowing inflation and strong employment data, Yellen says high interest rates increase the risk of a recession.

According to CME’s FedWatch tool, the probability of a 25 basis point rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve is 99.9 percent. The rate hike decision will be followed by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech, which will outline a hawkish and dovish approach.

2. European Central Bank and Bank of England interest rate hike

The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points at its next two meetings in February and March. ECB President Christine Lagarde says further monetary tightening and higher interest rates are needed to bring down inflation.

The Bank of England is expected to announce a 50 basis point rate hike on Thursday, an hour before the ECB’s rate hike decision.

3. Tech giants’ quarterly results

The crypto-currency market has a correlation with the U.S. stock market, with the Nasdaq 100 having a strong correlation with the price of bitcoin. With tech giants such as Meta, Apple, Google and Microsoft announcing their quarterly results this week, the price of bitcoin is likely to be affected.

The tech giants are also associated with the crypto market with their technology developments related to NFT, metavers and blockchain.

4. U.S. jobs and unemployment data

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release nonfarm employment and unemployment rate data for January. The number of nonfarm jobs is estimated at 185,000. The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in December 2022.

In addition, the unemployment rate is estimated at 3.6 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent in December 2022.