Crypto wrap: Fed's rate hike comment, SEC cases drag Bitcoin to 3-month low

Bitcoin fell to its lowest in three months on Wednesday after US Fed's statement hinted that it may increase the rates in the upcoming policy announcements

The cryptocurrency market traded in the red in the last one week. The total market has fallen from $1.1 trillion on June 9 to $1.03 trillion on Friday, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin, the largest crypto token by market cap, has fallen over four per cent and was trading at $25,549 on Friday. Ethereum was down over 9.5 per cent and was at $1,668.

Experts told Business Standard that this was primarily due to the US Federal Reserve's statements on rate hikes and the ongoing regulatory uncertainty over the charges filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) against Binance and Coinbase.

"Bitcoin experienced a dip below the $25,000 mark for the first time in three months. The downward trend came shortly after the Federal Reserve announced a pause in interest rates, triggering a four per cent drop in the price of Bitcoin. While the decision to halt interest rate increases was anticipated by the market, the Federal Open Markets Committee's statement hinted at future rate hikes, dampening investor enthusiasm," the research team of crypto exchange CoinDCX said.

"It was a sea of red across crypto markets post the regulatory headwinds in the US, as the SEC's lawsuits against the largest crypto exchanges in the world Binance and Coinbase, continued to affect sentiment. It was a highly volatile week in trading, as markets gyrated on specific news and developments, ending the week in red with a market capitalisation of just under $1.1 trillion," said Parth Chaturvedi, investments lead at CoinSwitch Ventures.

Bitcoin fell to its lowest in three months on Wednesday after the US Fed's statement hinted that even if it has chosen to halt the interest rate hikes, it may increase the rates in the upcoming policy announcements.

On Friday, however, the crypto market recovered a bit after the world's largest fund manager, BlackRock , announced that it has applied in the US SEC to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

If the SEC approves the application, the fund would trade on Nasdaq, making it the first publicly traded spot Bitcoin ETF in the US.

"The filing of a crypto-backed exchange-traded fund application by BlackRock might have played a role in this recovery, driving Bitcoin's gain of over one per cent and putting an end to its three-day losing streak," said Edul Patel, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) at crypto platform Mudrex.

The market continues to be volatile. According to Patel, Bitcoin has a support level of $25,200 and a resistance level of $25,700.