Honestly, this market has been pretty grinding lately—so is BTC just consolidating and shaking out weak hands, or is it going to go sideways for a while and then trigger another drop?

Let’s look at the technicals first. Bitcoin has indeed had some wick-like pullbacks these past few days, but have you noticed? Each time it dips, it finds support right at the Vegas channel before quickly bouncing back. This kind of movement doesn’t really count as a deep drop; it’s more like the main players are repeatedly shaking out positions. If it were a real crash, you wouldn’t see such rhythmic rebounds.

As for Ethereum, it hit a low of $3,060 yesterday, which pretty much matches the pullback range we predicted earlier. If you set up your positions near the $3,100 structural support level, you should be comfortably on board by now, instead of nervously chasing at the top. From the looks of it, this short-term volatility still falls within the healthy correction range.

But we have to keep an eye on the macro picture. There’s an important data release tonight—PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index). Even though this data is from September, before the government shutdown, it’ll help us gauge the inflation trend for October, and it’s likely to remain high.

Think about it: inflation has been rising for three straight months from July to September, and if this trend continues, inflation will once again become a headache for the Fed. Now that employment pressures have eased, the December FOMC meeting will most likely confirm a rate-cut path, and at this point, the market’s biggest fear is inflation picking up again.

Why? Because rising inflation is generally unfriendly to risk assets, and Bitcoin could come under short-term pressure as well. So after tonight’s data release, we might see some volatile pullbacks in the market—so be mentally prepared.

All in all, don’t get scared by short-term fluctuations, and don’t blindly chase the highs. Stay patient and only act when you see clear support levels.