As the US banking crisis is growing into a global banking crisis, the Bitcoin price is trading above $28,000 again, showing an extremely strong trend that suggests further gains. One of the main reasons to remain bullish in this regard is that the money printer has been turned on once again by the US Federal Reserve (Fed).
As NewsBTC reported, the Fed added a whopping $300 billion to its portfolio last week, offsetting half of all quantitative tightening (QT) in the last 12 months. And the money printer will run even hotter starting today.
Fed Announces New Swap Lines
On Sunday, March 19, the Federal Reserve and six of the world’s largest central banks announced a “coordinated action” to facilitate dollar-denominated banking transactions to calm financial markets.
The Fed, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the central banks of Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada will expand their swap operations, which central banks use to exchange foreign currency with each other, starting today, Monday, and continuing at least through the end of April. The move is intended to provide central banks outside the United States with a better liquidity of the US dollar.
The central banks reportedly agreed to increase the frequency of seven-day dollar currency swaps from weekly to daily. The swaps have been in place for several years – previously with weekly maturities.
How it works? The Fed lends dollars to foreign central banks. At the end of the term, the Fed swaps the currencies back at the original exchange rate and collects interest. It’s worth noting that the statement comes just hours after UBS announced its so-called “takeover” (aka bailout) of Credit Suisse.
Here’s Why It’s Bullish For Bitcoin
For BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes, the new swap lines are “another way to bailout non-US banks that isn’t obvious to the average person.” According to him, it is politically dangerous for the Fed to bail out foreign banks when so many small American banks need help.
The WSJ reported a few days ago that 186 banks face the same risks as Silicon Valley Bank. At the same time, the Fed can’t let foreign banks throw their government bonds into a liquid market and screw up even more.
The solution, according to Hayes, are swap lines. The Fed gives USD liquidity to major central banks like the ECB, while the ECB allows EU banks to give it US treasuries at par. This ensures that the ECB can give US dollars to the banks, which can then handle any outflows of USD deposits.
As a result, the US treasuries market is stabilized because no treasuries are actually sold. Any profit and loss is borne by the central bank, which can absorb infinite losses, which is reflected in the ECB’s balance sheet.
“Long Term: all treasuries held in the entire developed country banking system can now be lent against at par. Money Printer Go Brr,” Hayes concluded. Practically, the Fed becomes the global lender of last resort.
Following the recent news, the Bitcoin price is currently showing an extremely strong upward trend. As the 1-hour chart below shows, the hourly uptrend is still intact. At press time, Bitcoin traded at $28,160.
