Leading cryptocurrencies tanked Wednesday after the Federal Reserve’s hawkish outlook and the central bank’s statement that it has no interest in owning Bitcoin.
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded at 7:45 p.m. ET) |
| Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) | -4.94% | $100,644.84 |
| Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) |
-5.81% | $3,648.03 |
| Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) | -8.26% | $0.3603 |
What Happened: Bitcoin plunged sharply through the day but managed to stay above the psychologically crucial $100,000 mark.
Ethereum’s descent was steeper, as the second-largest cryptocurrency retreated to the $3,600 region following a near 6% drop.
The slump triggered over $675 million in cryptocurrency liquidations in the last 24 hours, with long liquidations hitting $578 million.
The decline came following Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments during the press conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, where he disclosed that the central bank can’t hold Bitcoin and it wasn’t looking for a law change.
Bitcoin’s Open Interest dropped 1.1%, however, the number of traders taking long positions for the coin surged above 50%, indicating expectations of a revival.
Over $1 billion in short positions risked liquidation if Bitcoin recovers to $105,900.
Market sentiment cooled from “Extreme Greed” to “Greed,” according to the Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index, signaling a decline in FOMO.
Top Gainers (24-Hours)
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded at … |
Full story available on Benzinga.com