Bitcoin Catches Market Cap of Elon Musk's Tesla Amid ETF-Fueled Rally, but Traders Cautious Ahead of Fed Meeting

The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady next week but traders will be watching for signals about future policy moves.

The euphoria around what’s now expected to be regulatory approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) listing helped aid the crypto’s surge of nearly 20% in the past week.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) move higher came as technology stocks continued their decline despite a number of mega-cap names – Amazon, Google and Facebook among them – reporting better-than-hoped earnings results. The Nasdaq Composite is now lower by more than 10% from its July high, putting the tech-heavy index in correction territory.

This is notable as bitcoin in the past has shown a strong correlation with U.S. equity markets, but now appears to be decoupling. The largest cryptocurrency is currently posting more than a 100% gain year-to-date, with options activity reaching historic highs.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization of about $670 billion is now roughly on par with Elon Musk's electric carmaker Tesla (TSLA) and tops that of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY).

Were it a U.S.-listed stock, bitcoin would rank as the ninth-largest by market cap,  just behind that of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by Warren Buffett, data from CompaniesMarketCap shows.

Traders have mixed opinions ahead of FOMC

Meanwhile, traders remain cautious about an extended price surge in the weeks ahead, pointing to the U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday

The market’s atmosphere could drastically change,” analysts at Japanese exchange Bitbank shared in a note with CoinDesk. “Recent economic data have demonstrated the U.S. economy’s strength, so a likely scenario is that the Fed will keep its policy rate unchanged but chair Powell will try to counter market’s expectation that rate hikes are over at his press conference.”#BinanceSquare #pol #linea #DeFiChallenge