Market context
The Fed hiked 25 basis points on Wednesday, the first tightening move in three years, and Bitcoin didn't break. Price bottomed around $68,000 in the hours before the decision, then reclaimed the mid-$70,000s by Thursday's Asia open. That's the story of the week: a hawkish surprise met by a bid that refused to fold.
Peter Schiff, of all people, framed the macro backdrop bluntly on Bitcoin Magazine's podcast, arguing the bond market broke in 2020 and everything since has been a slow unwind. Whether you buy the framing or not, the BTC/gold ratio printing an all-time high of 18. 17 tells you where the marginal hedging dollar went this week.
Both assets are catching a defensive rotation, and Bitcoin is holding its own against a gold tape that hasn't looked this strong in a cycle. Global crypto ownership hit 742 million wallets according to Henley & Partners, even as the millionaire count contracted to 135,694 on a $2. 6 trillion total market cap.
Bitcoin still accounts for more than two-thirds of that millionaire base. Ownership widening while wealth concentrates is a distribution pattern, not a top signal, but it's worth tracking as the next leg develops.
Technical setup
BTC is trading in a compression between $68,000 support and $83,000 resistance, with the mid-$70,000s acting as the pivot. The Wednesday flush to $68K held on the second test, and dip buyers stepped in fast enough that the daily candle closed with a long lower wick. That's textbook cycle-low behavior, though the same setup can fail if $68K breaks on volume.