Investing.com– The price of bitcoin fell slightly on Tuesday, while the rally in the No. 2 token, Ether, also cooled, as anticipation of this week's key inflation readings largely kept traders risk averse, especially towards cryptocurrencies.
Excitement over the approval of an exchange-traded fund that directly tracks Ether has also taken a backseat, especially as the Securities and Exchange Commission now has to interact with fund managers about their requests to list such a potential product.
Last week, the SEC approved requests from major exchanges to list a spot Ether ETF, triggering a strong rally in the broader token and crypto markets.
It fell 1.3% in the last 24 hours to $67,901.9 at 01:15 a.m. (CET) (05:15 GMT). sank 2% to $3,844.48, also retreating from two-month highs reached over the weekend.
Rate fears rise as inflation data awaits
Fears that US interest rates will remain high for longer remained the focus, especially ahead of key data due later this week.
The reading is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge and is likely to influence the central bank's outlook on rates.
Sentiment toward cryptocurrencies and other risk assets was hurt by growing fears that the Federal Reserve will keep rates high for longer, especially after a number of officials warned that persistent inflation will delay any monetary easing.
This notion also kept Bitcoin trading comfortably within an established trading range for almost three months, and also limited further gains in Ether.
High rates bode poorly for speculative assets like cryptocurrencies, as they limit the liquidity that can be invested in the space and also increase the attractiveness of conventional, low-risk investments such as the dollar and Treasuries.
Cryptocurrency prices took little advantage of Monday's slight decline.
Ahead of the PCE data, inflation readings for and will also be released this week.
Cryptocurrency price today: moderate altcoins and memecoins
Broader cryptocurrency prices saw little action as trading volumes were also subdued due to holidays in the US and UK.
Altcoins and rose less than 1% each, while meme tokens and traded in a range of stable to down.
