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No.: PandaLY Security Knowledge No.020
Changes in interest rates have a crucial impact on the global market, especially the monetary policy led by the Federal Reserve, which has played a role as a weather vane for the price fluctuations of various assets. For investors in the stock market, cryptocurrency market, and commodity market, understanding the deep-seated impact of interest rate changes and how to adjust investment strategies to cope with such changes is the key to maintaining long-term investment success. Our team has conducted an in-depth analysis of how the Federal Reserves interest rate policy affects the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, and summarized practical suggestions for coping with volatility in a complex environment, as well as an inventory of security incidents during past market fluctuations. The market is very chaotic, and security issues cannot be taken lightly!
The impact of high interest rates and recession fears on the market is gradually fading
The Fed’s Tightening Cycle: Context and Outcomes
Since the beginning of 2021, the Federal Reserve has responded to inflation by gradually raising the federal funds rate, a policy that has caused widespread market turmoil. During this tightening cycle, the market has experienced a large-scale revaluation of asset prices, especially for high-risk assets such as growth stocks and cryptocurrencies. In 2022, the increase in the frequency and magnitude of interest rate hikes has dampened market confidence, leading to a decline in the stock market and a significant decline in cryptocurrency prices.
However, after entering 2023, as inflation pressure gradually eased, the Feds policy stance began to change. In June 2023, the US inflation rate fell to 3%, close to the Feds long-term target. This trend prompted the market to expect that further interest rate increases would gradually slow down, and may even turn to interest rate cuts in the future. The market responded positively to this policy shift, and investors began to re-evaluate investment opportunities in a high interest rate environment.
2023 Market Rally: How Stocks and Cryptocurrencies Will Perform
Against the backdrop of more optimistic market expectations for the Federal Reserves future interest rate path, both the stock market and the cryptocurrency market showed a significant recovery in 2023. The SP 500 rose by about 24% in 2023, while the Nasdaq Composite rose by about 43%. This shows that despite the challenges brought by high interest rates to the economy, investors optimism about the market outlook has gradually recovered.
The recovery in the cryptocurrency market is also remarkable. Bitcoin prices have risen sharply since the beginning of 2023, partly due to the markets great expectations for the launch of the Bitcoin ETF. Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have also been driven by similar factors, and their prices have continued to rise. This rise not only reflects investors continued interest in digital assets, but also shows that the market is optimistic about changes in the future economic environment.
Recession fears: Market uncertainty remains
Despite the obvious market rebound, investors still have concerns about the future economic environment. Whether the Fed will cut interest rates too early or too much is still the focus of market debate. If the interest rate is cut too quickly, it may cause the economy to overheat, thus triggering a new round of inflation risks; if the interest rate is cut too slowly, it may increase the risk of economic recession.
Currently, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield is 4.12%, lower than the 52-week high of 4.99% in October 2022. Despite the decline in yields, the market still expects an economic slowdown or even a recession in 2024. Therefore, investors should carefully assess potential market risks and make corresponding asset allocation adjustments when responding to future interest rate changes.
Market volatility
Fluctuations in interest rates affect the price of cryptocurrencies by changing investor performance and market dynamics. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is the central bank of the United States, and one of its main responsibilities is to regulate the countrys interest rates, which in turn affects the cost of borrowing. Lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, increase liquidity, and stimulate consumption and investment; conversely, higher interest rates restrict borrowing, reduce capital flows, and thus slow economic growth, with the goal of curbing inflation.
Asset prices (such as stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies) usually have an inverse relationship with interest rates. As a rule of thumb, interest rates can be thought of as a common denominator for pricing assets. When this denominator increases, asset prices tend to fall, and vice versa. Therefore, this is also true for volatile assets like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
From a behavioral perspective, low interest rates mean that banks offer less return on savings. As a result, investors tend to pursue riskier investments with higher returns, such as cryptocurrencies, and this increased demand could push up cryptocurrency prices. Conversely, rising interest rates make savings accounts and bonds more attractive, which could pull investment away from riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies, causing the prices of these assets to fall.
The impact of interest rates is particularly evident in high-risk assets. The high volatility and lack of established financial history of cryptocurrencies make them particularly sensitive to changes in the interest rate environment. The historical price trends of the cryptocurrency market reflect this sensitivity. When prices plummet, funds flow out of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, and the blockchain ecosystem may experience a decrease in transactions and users.
In summary, in the face of possible changes in the Feds interest rate policy, we should adopt a cautious strategy. Market uncertainty may lead to sharp fluctuations in the crypto market in the short term. We should maintain regular investments and diversified portfolios, and staying calm and rational is the key to coping with this environment.
How market volatility affects the cryptocurrency market
Uniqueness of the Cryptocurrency Market: High Volatility and Policy Sensitivity Compared with traditional financial markets, the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile and highly policy sensitive. Under the influence of the Federal Reserves interest rate policy, the cryptocurrency market experienced a dramatic adjustment in 2022, with the prices of major digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum falling sharply. This situation reflects the concerns of cryptocurrency investors about the high interest rate environment, as high interest rates generally reduce investors appetite for high-risk assets. However, with the slowdown in interest rate increases in 2023 and the strengthening of market expectations for future interest rate cuts, the cryptocurrency market rebounded again. In particular, against the backdrop of the launch of the Bitcoin ETF, the price of Bitcoin soared, further driving the rise of the entire cryptocurrency market. Investors continued interest in digital assets reflects their confidence in the future of financial technology and blockchain technology. The chain reaction of interest rate changes on the cryptocurrency market Interest rates have a profound impact on Bitcoin and the entire crypto market, including NFT and DeFi. In 2018, the price of Bitcoin plummeted from nearly $20,000 at the end of 2017 to $3,200 at the end of 2018, a drop of more than 80%, as interest rates were raised under the leadership of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to combat inflation. In addition to exchange hacks and regulatory uncertainty, rising interest rates were the main factor in the slump in the cryptocurrency market. Fast forward to 2021, Bitcoin reached an all-time high of more than $68,000 in November, affected by low interest rates during the pandemic. However, with inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve shifted to a rate hike stance from the end of the year, causing a sharp correction in the crypto market. By June 2022, Bitcoin fell below $20,000 again, a drop of more than 70%.
Safety advice during interest rate changes
Long-term perspective: Keep investing regularly and diversifying
For the cryptocurrency market, high volatility and policy sensitivity mean that investors should remain vigilant. It is recommended that everyone consider reducing risks through diversification. Investors should pay attention to the dynamic changes in the supply chain and the prospects for global economic growth in order to adjust their portfolios in a timely manner. Although the market may experience short-term fluctuations, investors should continue to invest regularly in a diversified portfolio of stocks or bonds, and always pay attention to the central banks monetary policy statements and changes in market expectations. These factors not only affect the future trend of interest rates, but may also have a significant impact on market sentiment and asset prices.
For investors who have built a solid portfolio, periods of market decline can be an opportunity to increase their investments. For example, when the stock market falls due to rising interest rates or market uncertainty, investors can buy high-quality assets at a discount. This strategy can not only reduce the average cost of the portfolio, but also achieve higher returns when the market rebounds.
Risk Management: Asset Allocation and Hedging Strategies
In the current high interest rate environment, risk management is particularly important for investors. Investors should consider spreading risk through diversified asset allocation, which includes balancing between different types of assets, such as stocks, bonds, commodities and cash. In this way, investors can maintain the robustness of their portfolios in different market environments.
In addition, investors can also consider using hedging strategies to reduce the impact of market volatility. For example, investors can hedge against market downside risks by buying defensive stocks (such as stocks in the healthcare and consumer staples industries) or holding cash positions. In the cryptocurrency market, investors can use derivatives (such as futures and options) to hedge against price fluctuations.
Seizing market opportunities: Investing in future growth areas
Despite the current challenging market environment, investors should still focus on future growth opportunities. This includes investing in industries and companies with long-term growth potential, such as technology, biomedicine and renewable energy. These industries not only perform well in the current environment, but may also play an important role in future economic growth.
The cryptocurrency market and blockchain technology are also important areas for future growth. Despite the high volatility and policy risks in this market, its long-term development potential cannot be ignored. Investors can participate in this emerging market through diversified investment and risk management strategies and obtain potential returns from it.
Interest rate cuts and crypto scams and attacks
Regarding the interest rate cut period before 2024, there have been several cycles of interest rate cuts and hikes that overlap with large-scale scams and attacks in the cryptocurrency market, but it is important to note that such events are usually related to market volatility and uncertainty, rather than directly triggered by interest rate changes. The Federal Reserves interest rate policy has a profound impact on global financial markets, including stocks and cryptocurrency markets. This impact is often more pronounced during periods of falling interest rates. In the past few interest rate cut cycles, although market performance has rebounded, there have also been a series of scams and hacker attacks, revealing the potential risks brought about by interest rate changes.
PlusToken scam: The PlusToken Ponzi scheme defrauded about $3 billion in cryptocurrencies from 2018 to 2019. The uncertainty and volatility brought about by the market interest rate cuts at the time allowed these scammers to operate recklessly in the market, further undermining market confidence.
2015-2016 interest rate cut cycle
The DAO hack: In June 2016, the decentralized autonomous organization The DAO was hacked and lost approximately 3.6 million ether. The attack occurred in a global low interest rate environment, and although it was not directly related to the interest rate cut cycle, market uncertainty exacerbated the impact of this attack.
The interest rate cut cycle after 2011
Mt. Gox incident: In 2014, Mt. Gox, the worlds largest Bitcoin exchange, was hacked, resulting in the theft of approximately 850,000 Bitcoins. This incident occurred during a period of loose monetary policy around the world and had a profound negative impact on the crypto market.
How can market participants protect their wallet security?
In the face of these challenges, investors should pay special attention to guarding against security threats and fraud. Here are some suggestions:
Strengthen account security: Make sure to use tools such as two-factor authentication, strong passwords, hardware wallets, etc. to protect crypto assets from hacker attacks.
Beware of phishing and scams: Investors should be wary of investment opportunities from unknown sources and avoid participating in overly complex or opaque financial products.
Stay tuned for security updates: Update security software regularly, pay attention to the latest security information, and prevent malware and phishing attacks.
Summarize
The Feds interest rate policy not only affects the stock and commodity markets, but also has a profound impact on the cryptocurrency market. During periods of interest rate changes, market uncertainty often increases, leading to frequent fraud and attacks. The ChainSource team recommends that investors should remain cautious and focus on risk management and security precautions to ensure the safety of their assets in volatile markets. Through reasonable asset allocation, risk management and continuous security measures, investors can better cope with complex market environments and avoid unnecessary losses.
Lianyuan Technology is a company focused on blockchain security. Our core work includes blockchain security research, on-chain data analysis, and asset and contract vulnerability rescue. We have successfully recovered many stolen digital assets for individuals and institutions. At the same time, we are committed to providing project security analysis reports, on-chain traceability, and technical consulting/support services to industry organizations.
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