Crypto Crash: Digital-Asset Selloff Accelerates As US Federal Reserve Hikes Interest Rate

The overall cryptocurrency market is experiencing an unprecedented plunge in prices. A day after the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by the most in decades, crypto selloff saw an increase on Thursday, as more and more investors show signs of losing faith in digital assets. Ethereum (ETH) appeared to be the biggest loser among popular coins, losing over 10 percent in value in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s oldest and most valued cryptocurrency, also saw a considerable dip in value.

Ethereum price today

At the time of writing, Ethereum price stood at $1,078.83, as per CoinMarketCap data. According to Indian exchange WazirX, ETH price stood at Rs 89,713. ETH price went down 11.25 percent in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin price today

At the time of writing, Bitcoin price stood at $20,510.55, as per CoinMarketCap. According to WazirX, BTC price stood at Rs 17.06 lakhs. It saw a dip of 8.25 percent in the last 24 hours.

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Other coins, including the likes of Cardano, Dogecoin, and Solana lost roughly 10 percent.

Crypto crash: Why are prices falling?

The ongoing crypto market bloodbath began in May, when the US dollar-pegged stablecoin TerraUSD collapsed, wiping out around $60 billion in investors’ wealth. Speaking on the crash this month, Edul Patel, CEO and Co-Founder of crypto trading platform Mudrex, told ABP Live, “The crypto market has been under pressure from the [US] Federal Reserve, hiking the interest rates to combat inflation over the past few months.”

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“We have seen many Bitcoin corrections since 2011, but Bitcoin has returned strongly. It has been historically observed that bear markets are usually quick to plunge and never last long,” Patel said. “It is just a matter of time that may require a price bounce. The current bearish market may likely continue for the next few weeks as it has still not recovered from the previous month’s correction.”

Crypto crash: What should investors do?

Thorough research and long-term planning seem to be the order of the day. Patel advises that investors “looking towards stocking up on cryptos can DCA.” For those unaware, DCA, or dollar-cost averaging, is a long-term strategy that can help reduce the impact of market volatility by investing smaller amounts into an asset on a regular basis. There’s no fixed schedule for DCA. It can last for some months or even a few years, depending on the investors’ goals.

“At the same time, others should closely monitor the market movements rather than jumping into impulsive buying activities,” Patel cautioned.