The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price is up 1% overnight, currently trading for US$20,310 (AU$31,134).
That puts BTC up 8.6% already in October, with the crypto closing out September at US$18,694. (This figure will vary some depending on your time zone.)
As we reported here, September was a rather remarkable month for Bitcoin. While the token didn’t shoot the lights out, it only lost 2% over the month. That compares to a 10.5% drop on the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC).
With the Bitcoin price having tracked risk assets all year – though with rather magnified moves – September was the first month to see some break in that correlation.
Well, that’s the month gone by.
Now, what can crypto investors expect in October?
What’s impacting the Bitcoin price in October?
For some expert insight into that question, we turn to Josh Gilbert, market analyst at eToro.
Gilbert noted that September was indeed a volatile month for most other asset classes. But the Bitcoin price remained relatively resilient, trading in a tight range.
“There could be an argument that Bitcoin’s resilience comes after increased demand for Bitcoin, with significant volatility and uncertainty in foreign exchange markets,” like the British pound, he told The Motley Fool. Adding that this “was previously seen with the ruble during the Ukraine conflict”.
As for the month ahead, Gilbert told us:
Bitcoin’s price resilience in September paints a positive picture moving into October. Next week, CPI data out of the US will be another key test for Bitcoin. This will provide another insight into the macro environment, and a decline in inflation could boost crypto assets broadly.
In addition, the market is starting to believe that the Fed will not hike as much as expected or will stop early, helping the current market.
Cryptos have been hammered this year alongside risk assets like high growth tech stocks as the Federal Reserve and other global central banks, including the RBA, have aggressively hiked interest rates.
With the cost of future earnings rising, the NASDAQ Composite Index has plummeted 30% this year, while the Bitcoin price is down 57%.
If the Fed and other central banks scale back the rate increases, it should prove good news for tech shares and cryptos alike.
But invest with due care.
As Gilbert notes, “We still have a few more big hikes to come, and the Fed isn’t ready to turn dovish like the RBA just yet.”
