Prices of major cryptoassets, including bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) continued to fall on Monday, with technology stocks leading the way down as market participants are getting ready for a US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting set to begin on Tuesday.
At 14:36 UTC, BTC traded at USD 33,690, down almost 5% for the past 24 hours and 21% for the past 7 days. The number one cryptocurrency has now dropped more than 50% from its USD 69,000 all-time high, dipping as low as USD 32,917 on Monday before later trimming some of its losses.
BTC price last 14 days:
Meanwhile, ETH stood at USD 2,225, down nearly 10% for the day and 34% for the week, down by close to 54% from its all-time high of USD 4,868.
ETH price last 14 days:
Although selling of the two largest cryptoassets has been intense over the past 24 hours, liquidations of leveraged futures positions in both coins were still relatively modest compared to the levels from Friday.
According to data from Coinglass, long liquidations of bitcoin futures reached USD 71.7m over the 12 hours from midnight to noon UTC on Monday, well below the USD 182m in liquidations seen during the same time period on Friday. Meanwhile, ETH long liquidations stood at USD 73.7m, compared to 107.5m during the same 12 hours on Friday.
The sharp moves in both crypto and traditional financial markets on Monday came as the US Federal Reserve is set to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, with inflation expected to be high on the agenda.
The key issue investors are waiting for is how much interest rates will rise this year, and when the hikes will begin. According to a general consensus among economists, a 0.25% interest rate hike is expected in March this year. However, some analysts also said the Fed could
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