Bitcoin tests old 2021 top as gold falls to six-week lows under $4.7K

Bitcoin (BTC) rebounded from weekly lows into Thursday’s Wall Street open as inflation targeted BTC price strength.

Key points:

• Bitcoin price action preserves its new local trading range between 2021 highs and 2025 lows.

• Gold leads a macro asset sell-off after the Federal Reserve continued a hawkish stance on interest-rate policy.

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell says that the next rate cut depended on inflation “progress.”

Bitcoin struggles after hawkish Fed meeting

Data from TradingView showed a drop to $69,500 on the day, with BTC/USD reaching the area of its old all-time high from 2021.

The pair then returned above the $70,000 mark before circling the 2021 level, helping preserve a narrative of comparative strength despite various macro pressures.

On Wednesday, the focus switched from the Middle East and oil to US inflation as the Federal Reserve chose to hold interest rates at previous levels.

“Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated. The implications of developments in the Middle East for the U.S. economy are uncertain,” Chair Jerome Powell said in an official statement.

Powell’s subsequent press conference reiterated that “progress” was required on inflation for rates to come down — a key tailwind for crypto markets.

“The rate forecast is conditional on the performance of the economy, so if we don’t see that progress, you won’t see the rate cut,” he told reporters.

SUMMARY OF FED DECISION (3/18/2026):

1. Fed halts rate cuts for the second straight meeting

2. Fed projects one rate cut in 2026, one in 2027

3. Fed 2026 PCE inflation forecast revised higher to 2.7%

4. Fed says implications of Middle East developments are "uncertain"

5. Fed…

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 18, 2026

With just a single cut in 2026 now expected, risk assets felt pressure from the Fed, with US stocks ending the day down by around 1.5%.

Trader: BTC price needs weekly close near $75,000

On Thursday, however, it was gold leading the comedown, falling 2.3% below $4,700 per ounce for the first time since Feb. 6.

Related: $58K BTC price still in play? Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

“All assets, except Oil, continue to sell off,” crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe responded in a post on X. 

“Not a bad case here. The opposite: Bitcoin is also correcting, and it's correcting less than I would assume.”

BTC price action thus returned to a range bordered by the 2021 all-time high and the lowest level of 2025 at around $74,500.

“$BTC is still rejecting 2025 Yearly Lows. Won't be of significance during the week, need weekly close above there,” trader Castillo Trading told X followers on Wednesday.

Van de Poppe said that he would be a “big buyer” of Bitcoin if it were to drop back to the low $60,000 zone.