The Federal Reserve's rate hike shoes are about to drop. On December 19th, from 11:30 to 13:00 Beijing time, the central bank is expected to announce a 25 basis point increase to 0.75%, a conclusion that has already been agreed upon by over 90% of economists. The problem is, the market has already priced in all of this—interest rate hike expectations are almost fully reflected, so when it actually happens, it might not cause much surprise.

However, historical data shows that each previous rate hike by the central bank has triggered sharp declines in BTC, with the worst cases dropping by 23-31%. But this time is a bit different; the market has reacted in advance, so the impact might be somewhat muted.

The current atmosphere is indeed very tense. The Fear & Greed Index has surged into the extreme fear zone of 11-32. BTC has fallen by 6.5% over the past 7 days to $87,000, and ETH has fared worse, dropping 15% in a week to $2,843. The total market capitalization has evaporated by 4-5%. Altcoins with high FDV generally declined by 3-10%, with funds clearly flowing into BTC and stablecoins as safe-haven assets.

For those looking to buy the dip, consider this: focus on assets with negative funding rates, as places with excessive short positions often have rebound opportunities; or, conversely, look for coins with positive funding rates that are in a downtrend, and try shorting them. For leverage, it’s recommended to keep it between 3-7x, and widen the stop-loss to 4-6% to cope with potential extreme volatility on the day of the central bank announcement.