Global markets, led by US equities, experienced a slight decline this week, wiping out the gains from the previous week.
This drop came after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's recent semi-annual policy appearance at Capitol Hill, where he indicated that the Fed remains hawkish. While Powell acknowledged that inflation has cooled down, he emphasized that it still remains above the 2% target.
Consequently, there is a likelihood that the market will witness further rate hikes this year, totaling 0.5%. This would likely translate into two additional 0.25% hikes.
These sentiments have dampened the optimism that emerged after the Fed's decision to pause interest rate hikes earlier this month. Evidently, we are not yet fully out of the woods, and it may take some time before the Fed changes its stance.
However, it is interesting to note that not all risk-on assets have plummeted in response to this news. Bitcoin, along with the broader cryptocurrency market, has surged this week, and BTC’s price is now hovering above $30K.
Bitcoin Strongly Rebounds on Blackrock ETF Application
The crypto market has bounced back to life after several weeks of choppy price action, pushing the total market capitalization past $1.2 trillion.
Notably, Bitcoin performed exceptionally well, hitting a market dominance of 50% for the first time in two years, according to data from TradingView. 
This growing interest in BTC can be attributed to BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)'s recent Bitcoin ETF application, which has sparked a lot of excitement within the crypto community.
Already, two more investment firms, Invesco and WisdomTree, have lodged new Bitcoin ETF filings, signaling renewed optimism about the chances of a Bitcoin ETF being approved in the US in the near future.
While this recent rally doesn't necessarily indicate a complete reversal to a bullish trend in the crypto market, it certainly provides a much-needed boost.
What's interesting is that it is largely driven by institutional investors and goes against the recent sentiments expressed by US regulators, who have been cracking down on the crypto industry.
Exciting times lie ahead for those who have managed to weather the storm!