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The Bitcoin (BTC) price has successfully defended the $28,000 support on May 2, but has yet to prove the strength needed to reclaim the $29,200 level from April 30.

$30K becomes crucial for Bitcoin bulls

Some analysts will pin the recent downtrend to the expectation of an interest rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) on May 3, but in reality, the market is pricing 92% odds of a modest 25 basis point increase to its highest level since September 2007.

As the market intelligence platform Decentrader pointed out, the comments from Fed chairman Jerome Powell are more likely to bring surprise elements, either pointing to further measures to slow down the economy or signaling higher odds of the terminal interest rate being close to 5%. Powell is set to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

From an employment perspective, the central bank has reason to believe that the market continues to overheat. The U.S. government reported 1.6 job openings for every unemployed worker in March. Moreover, according to the ADP National Employment report released on May 3, private payrolls increased by 296,000 jobs in April, well above the 148,000 market consensus.

However, raising interest rates has negative consequences for families and small businesses, in particular. Financing and mortgages become more costly, while investing in fixed income becomes more attractive. Such an undesired effect of curbing inflation could further shake the core of the financial system, as shown by the latest bank failure of First Republic Bank.

Investors seem to have priced in a 25 basis points rate hike by the United States Federal Reserve on May 3. Next, they will look for clues on the Fed’s actions for the rest of the year.

Will the Fed maintain its hawkish stance as inflation still remains well above its target range or will the bank troubles and the looming recession make the central bank signal a pause in its rate hikes?

The World Economic Forum Chief Economists Outlook report released on May 1 shows that 80% of the chief economists believe that central banks have to maintain a delicate balance between “managing inflation and maintaining financial sector stability.” The economists anticipate that the central banks will find it difficult to bring down inflation to their target levels.

Arthur Hayes, the co-founder and former CEO of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, cautioned investors that investing in assets "outside of the traditional financial system” is the only way out if they want to preserve their capital.

Could Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins start an up-move after bouncing off key support levels? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

New meme-coin Pepe (PEPE) has entered a sharp correction phase after surging by more than 2,000% since its debut a few weeks ago.

On May 3, the PEPE price dropped to $0.00000089, down about 35% from its record high of $0.00000138 established two days ago. As a result of the correction, its market capitalization slipped by nearly $80 million, thus pushing it out of the top-100 top cryptocurrency index. 

A mix of technical and fundamental indicators hint at further downside for PEPE price. 

Retail interest falls

PEPE's daily trading volumes declined across centralized (CEX) and decentralized exchanges (DEX) as prices fell. The same happened to the Google trends for the keyword "Pepe Coin," whose score is down from 100 to 7 in a day, suggesting that the retail hype has subsided in the past 48 hours.

PEPE whale distribution is worrisome

The top 100 richest PEPE addresses, aka "whales," control 45% of the token's circulating supply, according to data tracked by CoinCarp.com.

New meme-coin Pepe (PEPE) has entered a sharp correction phase after surging by more than 2,000% since its debut a few weeks ago.

On May 3, the PEPE price dropped to $0.00000089, down about 35% from its record high of $0.00000138 established two days ago. As a result of the correction, its market capitalization slipped by nearly $80 million, thus pushing it out of the top-100 top cryptocurrency index. 

A mix of technical and fundamental indicators hint at further downside for PEPE price. 

Retail interest falls

PEPE's daily trading volumes declined across centralized (CEX) and decentralized exchanges (DEX) as prices fell. The same happened to the Google trends for the keyword "Pepe Coin," whose score is down from 100 to 7 in a day, suggesting that the retail hype has subsided in the past 48 hours.

PEPE whale distribution is worrisome

The top 100 richest PEPE addresses, aka "whales," control 45% of the token's circulating supply, according to data tracked by CoinCarp.com.

Bitcoin (BTC) hit daily lows at the May 3 Wall Street open as markets counted down the hours to the Federal Reserve interest rate decision.

Fed set to hike into banking crisis

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $28,152 on Bitstamp, down 2.2% from the day’s highs.

The pair continued volatility into the May 3 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the event that accompanies interest rate adjustments.

As Cointelegraph reported, market sentiment has priced in a 90%+ chance of the Fed hiking 0.25% to copy its March moves, with little expectations of a surprise instead.

The odds of the hike materializing stood at 83% at the time of writing, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, around 15% lower than the previous day.