Bitcoin reacts sharply to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech

• Bitcoin price fell sharply on Friday to break below $21,000 following remarks by Jerome Powell.
• The downside followed a similar reaction on Wall Street, with S&P 500 falling 2%.
• Powell said in his Jackson Hole speech that the Fed would remain aggressive till the “job is done.”

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) retreated below $21,000 on Friday afternoon, touching lows of around $20,700 at the time of writing.

The declines, which follow US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, could see the cryptocurrency’s price retest support levels at $20,000 or lower.

Fed to keep raising rates

The Jackson Hole symposium, which brings together central bankers, economists and other key policymakers, is an annual event that has often come with increased market volatility around highly anticipated commentary.

So, after Powell maintained a hawkish stance, reiterating that the central bank will raise interest rates “until the job is done” on inflation, both stocks and cryptocurrencies – risky assets – have dipped sharply.

The S&P 500 is down 2%, the Nasdaq has shed nearly 2.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has declined more than 500 points, or -1.6%.

Bitcoin price is down nearly 4% and looks vulnerable to new losses to the main support level at $20K, which analysts see as very important to bulls’s short term plans.