The crypto market had been experiencing volatile trends in the last two days. But today, with the release of Fed minutes, the entire market dropped resulting in a bearish trend. Major coins including Bitcoin and Ethereum saw a considerable fall.
The Fed minutes at first focused on the Russia-Ukraine war and then extended to the committee’s latest considerations. The committee talked about possibilities of Fed interest rate hike, which is set to worsen the crypto winter situations.
A Snapshot Of Fed Minutes
The U.S. Federal Reserved recently released minutes, which stated that the recent output and spending indices have slowed. However, recent months have seen a strong increase in job creation, and the jobless rate has stayed low. The pandemic-related imbalances in supply and demand, raised prices for food and energy, and broader pricing pressures are all contributing to the continued high inflation rate.
Russia’s conflict with Ukraine is having a terrible impact on both people and the economy. Inflation is being further pushed upward by the conflict and its accompanying events, which is putting pressure on global economic growth. Moreover, the Committee is paying close attention to the risks of inflation. The Fed minutes then noted their short-term goals and mentioned that:
“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 percent and anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate. In addition, the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, as described in the Plans for Reducing the Size of the Federal Reserve’s Balance Sheet that were issued in May. The Committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective.”
Crypto Market Developments
The major coins in the crypto market dropped as the news of Fed interest rate hike released via minutes came in. Here is a brief overview of how the digital currencies fared today.
- Bitcoin (BTC): The largest cryptocurrency, BTC, saw a drop of 1.74% and traded at $23412.16 at the time of reporting on Thursday, August 18, 2022. The market capitalization of the crypto stood at $447.12 billion, down by 1.72%. The 24-hour trade volume was down by 6.90% and was at $26.9 billion. The BTC crypto had been in the red even before today’s crypto crash session.
- Ethereum (ETH): The second-largest virtual currency, ETH, saw a dip of 2.51% and traded at $1,845.39 at press time on Thursday, August 18, 2022. The market capitalization of the crypto stood at $225.22 billion, down by 2.32%. The 24-hour trade volume was slightly up by 1.01% and was at $17.7 billion.
- Solana (SOL): Another popular crypto investment option, Solana, saw a decline of 5.14% and traded at $40.94 at the time of drafting this article on Thursday, August 18, 2022. The market capitalization of the crypto stood at $14.2 billion, down by 5.12%. However, the 24-hour trade volume was up by 15.76% and was at $1.2 billion.
- Cardano (ADA): The Yoroi Wallet Hero, Cardano, saw a drop of 3.04% and traded at $0.5399 at the time of writing on Thursday, August 18, 2022. The market capitalization of the crypto stood at $18.2 billion, down by 3.22%. In addition, the 24-hour trade volume was down by 16.70% and was at $778.74 million.
- Meme Coins: The popular meme coins, Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), declined by 3.38% and 5.59%, and traded at $0.08127 and $0.00001491, respectively.
The crypto crash sessions have not been ceasing. Also, the recent developments indicate that the digital currency space enthusiasts are set to face the wrath of crypto winter again.
