Bitcoin (BTC) stayed higher on March 21 after a snap rebound gave bulls 12% BTC price gains.

BTC price shoots higher on FOMC outlook

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed consolidation in a narrow range after a dramatic comeback the day prior.

Bitcoin reacted positively to commentary from the United States Federal Reserve as it chose to hold interest rates at current levels.

After the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested that it would be “appropriate” to enact rate cuts later in the year.

“The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent,” an accompanying press release reiterated.

BTC/USD ultimately avoided another retest of $60,000 support, instead marching to $68,000 and fully canceling out its previous losses.

“Today's objective: hold above $65,300,” popular trader Jelle wrote in part of his latest analysis on X (formerly Twitter).

“Do that- and a reclaim of the 2021 cycle highs is on the menu.”

Shorters were predictably on the receiving end of pain during the move. Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass put total short BTC liquidations for March 20 at $70 million.

Bitcoin ETFs see third day of outflows

New outflows from the U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) meanwhile failed to dent sentiment further.

Related: Price analysis 3/20: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, ADA, DOGE, AVAX, SHIB, TON

The latest figures from United Kingdom-based investment firm Farside estimated $261 million left the new ETF products on March 20, mostly fueled by $386 million in outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

The other ETFs saw inflows, which totaled a mere fraction of daily revenue earlier in the month.

Responding, market observers looked to remain optimistic. Bitcoin’s lack of reaction to a third consecutive day of outflows, popular commentator Dyme suggested, showed a newfound resilience to ETF forces.

“Today's bounce with the negative inflow (assuming accurate and including post-market?) means that the market is not dependent on the ETFs to move up,” part of an X post read.

Samson Mow, CEO of crypto adoption firm JAN3, argued that in the future, even GBTC would see net inflows as standard.

“All Bitcoin ETF outflows will eventually become inflows. Plan accordingly,” he summarized.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.