What Events Could Impact the Crypto Market This Week?

The crypto market remained relatively stable over the weekend, but Monday started with a decline as another potentially volatile week begins.

Last week, the markets were shaken by the sudden announcements of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, but there was a slight reprieve following encouraging inflation data with the CPI report coming in below expectations.

However, the Consumer Sentiment Index continued its quarterly decline, falling to its lowest level since November 2022 as recession fears grow.

– Wednesday marks the second Fed interest rate decision in 2025, at a critical juncture – comments Kobeissi Letter.

Economic Events from March 17 to 21

The retail sales report for February will be released on Monday, providing insights into the amount of money consumers are spending on durable and non-durable goods. This data is a leading indicator of the overall health of the economy and inflationary factors on the demand side.

Reports on industrial production showing the volume of production in U.S. industries such as manufacturing, mining, utilities, and housing will be released on Tuesday; however, they are expected to have a low impact.

All eyes will be on the U.S. central bank on Wednesday as policymakers are expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the policy meeting. Fed officials are reluctant to take any monetary policy actions while waiting to see the effects of Trump’s economic policies.

According to the CME Fed Watch tool, there is 99 percent probability that rates will remain unchanged at 4.25 to 4.5 percent.

Andrzej Skiba from RBC Global Asset Management stated that this example will likely be followed by more tariffs, adding that this will be inflationary, and the Fed will likely not be able to lower rates in such an environment.

Many have discussed Trump’s ‘short-term pain’ plan as a likely attempt to weaken the market with the long-term goal of reducing inflation and interest rates.

Crypto Market Outlook

The market capitalization of the crypto market has decreased by a further 2.6 percent on the day, falling to 2.8 trillion dollars at the time of writing, with the decline accelerating during Monday morning trading.

Bitcoin fell to 82,000 dollars before slightly recovering to 83,000 dollars at the time of writing. The largest cryptocurrency has dropped by nearly 11 percent in the past two weeks.

Ethereum continues to underperform, falling back below 1,900 dollars with very few signs of recovery.

Altcoins have mostly been in the red, with larger losses for Solana and Pi Network, while Shiba Inu and Polkadot showed minor gains.