Investing.com — Bitcoin prices fell on Wednesday, extending losses seen this week as weak risk appetite amid uncertainty over the U.S. political outlook kept traders wary of cryptocurrencies.
The launch of exchange-traded funds tracking Ether also did little to improve sentiment towards the sector, with prices falling on Tuesday and trading sideways on Wednesday.
Over the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency's price fell 1.7% to $65,793.5 as of 01:56 ET (05:56 GMT). The token had bounced back to $69,000 over the weekend but was now steadily reversing course.
Bitcoin suffers amid political uncertainty and weak risk appetite
Bitcoin came under pressure due to growing uncertainty over the US presidential race, especially after President Joe Biden dropped out of his re-election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris has been seen to have rapidly gained support in the Democratic Party and is now widely expected to be nominated as the party's presidential candidate.
This sets her up for a showdown with Republican nominee Donald Trump, who, before Harris' endorsement, was polling ahead of both Biden and Harris.
Expectations of a Trump presidency had fueled some gains in cryptocurrencies, especially considering he has maintained a positive stance towards them in his recent campaigns. Trump is also scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville this Saturday.
Still, Harris was ahead of Trump in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted just after her endorsement by Biden.
Spot Ether ETFs see solid volumes, but little price action
Six ETFs tied directly to the price of Ether began trading on U.S. exchanges on Tuesday, attracting trading volumes of more than $1 billion on their first day of trading.
But they were a fraction of the $4.6 billion traded during the debut of Bitcoin spot ETFs earlier this year.
Ether's price also fell on Tuesday, trading unchanged at around $3,440.97 on Wednesday.
While the launch of spot Ether ETFs is expected to attract more institutional investors to cryptocurrencies, it remains unclear how much demand there actually is for the product.
Trading volumes for spot Bitcoin ETFs have also declined greatly since their debut earlier this year.
Cryptocurrency prices today: altcoins are staying afloat
Among the broader cryptocurrency markets, major altcoins saw limited movement on Wednesday as sentiment for risk-driven assets remained largely weak.
and moved in a narrow range, while losing 2.6%.
Among meme tokens, 1.9% fell, while 0.7% fell.
