Bitcoin fell back below US$20,000 in early Monday morning trading in Asia after breaching that support line overnight, while Ethereum led the losses in the crypto top 10 by market capitalization, which were all trading lower.

See related article: Markets: Bitcoin dips below US$20,000; Ether, ETC fall post-Merge

Fast facts

  • Bitcoin fell by 3.4% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$19,436 at 8 a.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether (ETH) fell 8.9% to US$1,337 – its lowest since Jul. 18 – according to CoinMarketCap. Solana was also down 7.5% at US$31.14, while Cardano lost 7.8% to trade at US$0.44. The world’s leading memecoin, Dogecoin, was down 7.3% changing hands at US$0.057.
  • Ethereum Classic (ETC), the original network from which ETH was forked, was trading 14% lower at US$29.61. ETH has fallen 24% in the last seven days, while ETC has dropped 22.8% in a sell-off following the long-awaited “Merge,” which occurred last Thursday. The two networks had made significant price gains in the run-up to the event but have since seen much of those gains evaporate.
  • U.S. equities closed lower on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 Index was down 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed the day off 0.9%.
  • Investors are awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting this week from Sept. 20 – 21, where it is expected to further raise interest rates by 75 basis-points in its ongoing campaign to tackle inflation.
  • Market analysts at CME Group predicted a nearly 40% chance of a 100 basis-point hike immediately after higher-than-expected August inflation data was released last week, but have since lowered that likelihood to 18%.
  • U.S. Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly affirmed their commitment in recent months to raising interest rates until inflation is brought under control. However, the World Bank warned last week the Fed’s effort to tackle inflation in this way risked tipping the world economy into a recession by 2023.

See related article: SEC’s Gensler says proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies may be securities

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