The period of volatility is far from over, as demonstrated by the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum. Both coins have had an eventful weekend before opening the new week with a slide.
Bitcoin dropped to $20,834.00 on Friday, its lowest since mid-July, before recovering over the weekend. Then, it went as low as $20,908.10 on Monday before surging back to $21,152.3. Bitcoin is currently down 9.38 percent for the past month.
Ethereum was hit even worse, falling off a cliff starting Thursday. The coin fell from $1,789.45 at one point on Thursday to as low as $1,532.92 on Monday. It is currently trading at $1,582.13, which marks a 13.76 percent drop in the past five days but a 3.03 percent gain for the past month.
Bitcoin and Ethereum’s slide prompted other cryptocurrencies to start falling as well. Meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu token were down to start the week, as well as more “serious” projects like Cardano and Solana.
The cryptocurrency market dip is a consequence of the expected rise of interest rates by the Federal Reserve at the upcoming meeting, according to Feroze Medora of crypto exchange Gemini.
“It feels like what’s driving the market and price action right now is more on the macro and the Fed,” Medora told Forkast in a recent chat.
The Fed is expected to have a meeting this week with another interest rate hike being in the books, according to most experts.