Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week and a new quarter as if it were starting the new year — at just over $46,000.
In what will seem like some serious deja-vu for hodlers, BTC/USD is at practically the same level it was on January 1, 2022.
Price action has been quiet — too quiet, perhaps — in recent days, but behind the declining volatility, there are signs that the market is busy deciding its future direction.
From macro to on-chain, there are in fact plenty of cues to keep an eye on in April amid a backdrop of Bitcoin — at least so far — retaining its yearly open price as support.
Cointelegraph takes a look at five of these factors as they pertain to BTC price performance over the coming week.
Inflation meets fresh money printing
There has been much talk of the end of the post-COVID “easy money” period and the impact it’ll have on risk assets such as Bitcoin.
As the United States Federal Reserve pledges to reduce its record-high balance sheet and keep raising key rates, commentators have sounded the alarm over what could be a shockwave hitting investment into crypto.
So far, however, there is little sign that a fundamental shift is underway, while in Asia this week, it seems like the opposite is true.
As highlighted by markets commentator Holger Zschaepitz, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has added to its balance sheet, printing even more liquidity.
The BoJ already had the largest balance sheet relative to GDP and that trend is only increasing, now at 136% of GDP.
For Zschaepitz, this is not only a surprise, but could be “the biggest monetary experiment in history.”
“In comparison, the ECB and the Fed look like amateurs,” he argued.
Central bank balance sheet annotated chart. Source: Holger Zschaepitz/ Twitter
If more printing means more good times for risk assets, not everyone is even convinced that the long-vaunted balance sheet reductions will last. Central banks, they claim, will soon have no choice but to restart liquidity injections.
“There is no government, ever, that resisted the temptation to print money in order to pay its bills and placate its citizens. The government will never voluntarily go…
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