The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will vote this week whether to raise the benchmark interest rate from the 0.25% it has been set at since December 2008. While most analysts believe this week's meeting won't bring a rate hike, they concur that it will likely happen by the end of the year.

The latest dot plot released in the FOMC's summary of economic projections in June indicates that every member expects the benchmark rate to increase to 0.50%-to-0.75% by year's end. And in 2016 and beyond, the expectation is for rates to ultimately settle between 3%-4.5%.

Shorter-term rates have already begun to tick up in anticipation of a 2015 rate hike. With a rate increase all but imminent, investors are bracing for change -- including those with a stake in Bitcoin. And the digital currency may take a hit.

If the Federal Reserve enacts higher interest rates, the price of Bitcoin could be negatively impacted. Two pieces of evidence point to this hypothesis.