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Investing.com– Bitcoin price fell slightly on Wednesday as anticipation of more cues on U.S. interest rates saw traders lock-in gains from a recent rally on optimism over a spot Ether exchange-traded fund.
World no.2 cryptocurrency Ether steadied at an over two-month high after reports this week suggested some progress towards the approval of spot ETFs by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The regulator is set to make a hotly-anticipated decision on potentially approving the ETFs later this week.
But warnings on sticky U.S. inflation and high-for-longer interest rates kept traders cautious towards crypto markets, and also pulled Bitcoin back from recent gains.
Bitcoin fell 1.5% over the past 24 hours to $69,880.1 by 01:33 ET (05:33 GMT).
Ether steadies at over 2-mth high, SEC ETF decision in focus
Ether rose 3% in the past 24 hours to $3,755.37, and was close to its highest level since early-March. The token surged as much as 18% on Monday.
Media reports said that the SEC had asked exchanges to fine-tune their filings for spot Ether ETFs on Monday, ahead of a crucial decision on their approval later this week.
The move marks some progress towards the approval of the ETFs, although the SEC could still deny the applications, given that it has not engaged with any of the applicants so far.
Still, analysts said the SEC’s move reflected a greater probability of an eventual approval of a spot Ether ETF. The approval is expected to spark a rally in crypto prices, akin to that seen with the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.
Bitcoin struggles to hold gains, more Fed cues awaited
The token had risen as far as $71,000 on Tuesday, before falling back into a $60,000 to $70,000 trading range seen over most of the past two months.
Sentiment towards crypto, despite optimism over a spot Ether ETF, was still constrained by persistent concerns over U.S. interest rates.
Several Fed officials warned this week that the central bank needed more confidence that inflation was coming down before it could begin cutting interest rates.
Focus was now on the minutes of the Fed’s late-April meeting, for more cues on when the central bank could begin trimming interest rates.
High for longer rates bode poorly for crypto markets, given that they limit the appeal of high-risk and highly speculative assets.
Crypto price today: Altcoin rally cools
Broader altcoin prices also cooled as Bitcoin retreated, while traders remained largely biased towards Ether in the altcoin complex. Resilience in the dollar also limited any major upside in crypto.
Solana fell 0.2%, while XRP shed 0.5%. Among meme coins, Dogecoin rose 3.1% while SHIB rose 1%.
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