Bitcoin stays below US$20,000 Monday morning after Friday Fed shock

Bitcoin and Ether fell Monday morning in Asia, along with all other cryptocurrencies in the top 10 by market capitalization. The slump continues a slide over the weekend after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell rocked crypto and equity markets on Friday with comments about economic pain ahead as the Fed raises interest rates to tackle inflation.

Fast facts

• Bitcoin lost 2.2% in the last 24 hours to trade at US$19,615 at 8 a.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether slid 4% to US$1,430, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
• Bitcoin fell below US$20,000 on Saturday for the first time since mid-June after sliding 7% in the 24hrs following Powell’s comments. The total crypto market cap dropped below US$1 trillion to US$953 billion as of 8 a.m. in Hong Kong.
• Cardano saw the biggest loss, trading down 4.3% to US$0.43. BNB was little changed, dipping 0.5% to US$276.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3% on Friday in its worst day of trading since May. The S&P 500 Index lost 3.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3.9% in the worst trading day since June for both indices.
• “Restoring price stability will likely require maintaining a restrictive policy stance for some time,” Powell said in a keynote address at the Fed’s economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday. Powell added the Fed would not look to lower interest rates until inflation falls back to a 2% target range.
• Following Powell’s speech, financial markets priced in a higher chance of a 75-basis point increase in interest rates at the Fed’s next meeting in September. Before his comments, the market consensus was split between a 75-basis point or 50-basis point rise.

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