Investing.com– The price of bitcoin fell slightly on Wednesday in anticipation of more signals on U.S. interest rates, causing traders to lock in profits from a recent rally on optimism about an Ether exchange-traded fund cash.
The world's No. 2 cryptocurrency stabilized at a more than two-month high after reports this week suggested some progress toward spot ETF approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator will make a long-awaited decision on the possible approval of ETFs later this week.
But warnings about persistent US inflation and high interest rates for longer kept traders cautious about crypto markets, and also pulled Bitcoin back from its recent gains.
fell 1.5% in the last 24 hours to $69,880.1 at 01:33 a.m. (CET) (05:33 GMT).
Ether stabilizes at over 2-month high, SEC ETF decision in focus
Ether rose 3% in the last 24 hours to $3,755.37, and was near its highest level since early March. The token rose as much as 18% on Monday.
Media reports said the SEC had asked exchanges to adjust their filings for Ether spot ETFs on Monday, ahead of a crucial decision on their approval later this week.
The move marks some progress toward approving ETFs, although the SEC could still reject the applications, given that it has not engaged with any of the applicants so far.
Still, analysts said the SEC's move reflected a higher likelihood of eventual approval of an Ether spot ETF. The approval is expected to cause a rally in cryptocurrency prices, similar to that seen with the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.
Bitcoin struggles to maintain gains, more Fed signals expected
The token had risen as high as $71,000 on Tuesday, before falling back to a $60,000 to $70,000 trading range seen for most of the past two months.
Sentiment towards cryptocurrencies, despite optimism over an Ether spot ETF, was still limited by lingering concerns about US interest rates.
Several Fed officials warned this week that the central bank needed more confidence that inflation was coming down before it could begin cutting interest rates.
Attention has now turned to the Central Bank, looking for more clues as to when the central bank might start cutting interest rates.
Longer high rates bode poorly for cryptocurrency markets as they limit the appeal of high-risk and highly speculative assets.
Crypto Price Today: Altcoin Rally Cools
Broader altcoin prices also cooled as Bitcoin retreated, while traders remained largely biased towards Ether in the altcoin complex. The resilience in the also limited any major upside in cryptocurrencies.
fell 0.2%, while it lost 0.5%. Among meme coins, they are up 3.1% while they are up 1%.
