Interesting information appeared over the weekend related to the Federal Reserve System and Bitcoin. On the eve of the biggest drop in the Bitcoin rate since its inception, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met with the CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. and crypto advocate Christopher Giancarlo. This was recorded in the central bank's calendar.

Powell's personal meeting with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan lasted about 30 minutes. A few days later, the cryptocurrency exchange rate fell sharply, which sowed panic in the market and led to a major prolonged fall. Representatives of the Fed and Coinbase declined to comment on what exactly was discussed during the meeting.

Let me remind you that Coinbase is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, and just recently passed its IPO, which was a very serious step for the crypto industry. This greatly fueled interest in investing in this area among large and medium-sized players. On May 12, Powell met with the former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Giancarlo, and the director of the Digital Dollar project. Although the meeting was different in that it was virtual, it also lasted 30 minutes. What was discussed there is also shrouded in mystery.

This news indicates the Fed's growing interest in the digital dollar and most likely Jerome Powell was trying to figure out how to more safely implement a new direction for the American central bank. In a May 20 statement, Powell said, "We at the Federal Reserve are committed to listening to a wide range of crypto industry representatives on the important issue of the digital dollar for the entire economy. Only then will we make any decision on whether or not to promote CBDC in the US." Powell also said he wants the Fed to play a leading role in developing international digital currency standards.

Currently, many of the leading central banks around the world are developing digital currencies. This primarily concerns the People's Bank of China, which promotes digital currencies, which can give them a head start in developing standards in part because they have real experience in this area.

As for the technical picture of Bitcoin, buyers have real problems with the breakout of the resistance at 36,000, which creates quite a lot of problems for further growth. Going beyond this range will lead to a new upward wave to the upper border of the side channel 41,100. Only after the breakout of this range can we seriously talk about a new wave of BTC growth in the area of the 46,700 and 52,000 highs. The bears face a completely different task. To begin with, they need to prevent Bitcoin from going above 36,000, but a breakdown of the lower border of the side channel around 30,000 will collapse the rate to a minimum of 25,700 and 21,650.

Good news for Bitcoin buyers continues to pour in. According to the latest figures from Glassnode, the number of coins owned by whales - addresses controlled from 1,000 to 10,000 BTC - has grown by more than 80,000 to 4.216 million. This is the highest level since May this year, which was before the collapse. The number of whales also jumped to a three-week high of 1922.

The moment the whales' accumulation resumes is good news for the market, as wealthy investors continue to believe in the market and are not going to leave even after trying to dip the 30,000 level. They may have played a significant role in holding it after the last test. The growth in the balance of whales also suggests that the bottom may have already been reached and that consolidation and a period of accumulation with subsequent growth awaits us ahead.