Ether Rallies 7% as Bitcoin Traders Eye $80K Support Before FOMC Meeting

Meanwhile, gold surged past $3,000 to reach new all-time highs on Wednesday, prompting some to speculate about an inverse correlation between the precious metal and bitcoin.

Key Points:

• Ether surged 7% in the last 24 hours, leading the crypto market ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
• Bitcoin remains below $84,000, with traders closely monitoring the $80,000 level as a key support zone.
• Gold hit record highs above $3,000, sparking discussions about its inverse correlation with Bitcoin amid Federal Reserve policy uncertainty and a shift toward traditional safe-haven assets.

Ether (ETH) surged nearly 7% in the past 24 hours, leading gains among major cryptocurrencies as traders await the outcome of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

The rally extended to memecoins, with Dogecoin (DOGE) rising 4%, historically showing a correlation with ETH. Other Ethereum-based memecoins, including Pepe (PEPE) and Mog (MOG), gained over 5%, continuing to act as leveraged bets on ETH’s price movements.

Elsewhere, major cryptocurrencies such as XRP, BNB (from BNB Chain), Solana’s SOL, and Cardano’s ADA saw a 3% increase. Meanwhile, Tron’s TRX, which surged 5% earlier in the day, dipped as memecoin trading on the blockchain picked up following a no-fee update on the Sunpump platform.

Bitcoin (BTC) gained 2% and held steady just under $84,000 in the Asian evening hours, with traders closely monitoring the upcoming FOMC meeting, where expectations are that interest rates will remain unchanged. The $80,000 level is a key point to watch, as breaking below it would signify the loss of a critical support level.

The ETH/BTC ratio, which tracks the value of ether against bitcoin, rose from 0.23 to 0.24 since the morning in Asia, signaling increased demand for riskier ETH relative to bitcoin, which is seen as a safer asset.

Ether's rise had no immediate catalyst, but there are technical developments in the Ethereum network that could drive further interest. The Pectra upgrade, Ethereum's upcoming major update, is currently in testing. It aims to improve scalability, staking, and the user experience through over 20 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), including EIP-7702 (smart account functionality) and EIP-7251 (raising validator staking limits to 2,048 ETH). Testing began on Holesky in February 2025, followed by Sepolia in March, but there were challenges with transaction processing due to client incompatibilities. The new testnet, Hooli, launched on March 17, with Pectra testing scheduled for March 26. If successful, the mainnet deployment is expected in late April or early May 2025.

Traders at Singapore-based QCP Capital noted that while Bitcoin (BTC) has found some support at $80K, this support is seen as fragile amid broader macroeconomic weaknesses. They indicated that in the short term, they struggle to identify strong drivers that would reverse the current downtrend. They are particularly watching for any dovish shifts in growth and inflation expectations, with the Federal Reserve likely to remain in a "wait-and-see" mode due to the delayed impact of tariffs on the economy.

Additionally, gold surged above $3,000, reaching new highs, which led some analysts to observe an inverse correlation between the price of gold and Bitcoin.

Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research, shared in a Telegram message that despite Bitcoin's historical correlation with gold as a macro hedge, its current divergence—where Bitcoin falls as gold rises—indicates it is behaving more like a risk asset. This shift is influenced by uncertainty surrounding Fed policy, profit-taking, and a movement toward traditional safe-haven assets.

Lee further noted that the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting could either trigger a recovery for Bitcoin if the tone is dovish or deepen the correction if it turns out to be hawkish. He emphasized that Bitcoin's short-term trajectory is increasingly tied to broader economic signals rather than reinforcing its traditional role as "digital gold."