Bitcoin traded below the psychologically important $45,000 mark on Wednesday evening as the global cryptocurrency market cap declined 3.5% to $2 trillion.
| Coin | 24-hour | 7-day | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin BTC/USD | -3.2% | -7.8% | $43,529.71 |
| Ethereum ETH/USD | -3.4% | -5.8% | $3,201.78 |
| Dogecoin DOGE/USD | -12.1% | 1.15% | $0.145 |
| Cryptocurrency | 24-Hour % Change (+/-) | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Anchor Protocol (ANC) | 21.2% | $3.19 |
| Neutrino USD (USDN) | +7% | $0.93 |
| Zilliqa (ZIL) | +4.2% | $0.13 |
See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)
Why It Matters: Major cryptocurrencies were weaker at press time, while U.S. stock futures were flat. On Wednesday the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed 2.2% lower, while the S&P 500 ended down nearly 1%.
Minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s March meeting showed inflation concerns dominated among central bank policymakers. Officials expressed support for a plan to pull out of key financial markets such as Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities (MBS), reported Reuters.
The plan, which could reportedly be put into place as early as next month, involves shedding holdings of Treasury bonds by up to $60 billion per month and MBS holdings by up to $35 billion per month.
"All participants agreed that elevated inflation and tight labor market conditions warranted commencement of balance sheet runoff,” said the minutes, as reported by Reuters.
On Wednesday, U.K.-based digital asset broker Globalblock analyst Marcus Sotiriou noted comments from Federal Reserve’s Lael Brainard, which indicated the central bank could start reducing the balance sheet as soon as May at a rapid pace. He said Brainard is typically dovish and favors low rates.
On the market reaction to Brainard's comments, Sotiriou said, “I think this is an over-reaction ... as Brainard pointed out things that we are already aware of.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday that her department has not seen a significant evasion of sanctions imposed on Russian government agencies and individuals via cryptocurrencies, reported Cointelegraph.
Edward Moya, a senior market analyst with OANDA said Bitcoin extended declines after no “dovish surprise” was evident.
“The Fed’s gonna be aggressive here and that is going to be short-term trouble for risky assets like Bitcoin. Bitcoin could see weakness towards the $40,000 level, with the $38,000 level providing major support,” said Moya, in a note.
Traders are moving to the safety of Bitcoin and jettisoning altcoins, which have declined by double-digit percentages, according to a tweet from market data platform Santiment.
A significant portion of #altcoins have retraced by double digit percentages the past 24 hours. And there appears to be a declining interest in them as a result, as traders move funds back into #Bitcoin to mitigate volatility. Watch for crowd #FUD here. https://t.co/2T30BhtZKE pic.twitter.com/9k0svqsE26
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) April 6, 2022
Cryptocurrency trader Michaël van de Poppe said he would rather look for longs than shorts.
I'd rather want to look at longs than shorts at this point for #Ethereum and #Bitcoin.
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) April 6, 2022
Read Next: Lightning Labs Attracts $70M Funding To Facilitate 'Bitcoinizing' Dollar, Other Fiat Currencies
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