BTC, ETH Lower as Powell Claims ‘Structural Issues’ With Cryptocurrency – Market Updates Bitcoin News
Bitcoin was back in the red on Wednesday, as US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell called for more regulation in decentralized finance ( defi ), citing “structural issues” as a key reason. The token fell below $19,000 on the comments, moving closer to a key support point as a result. Ethereum also fell after yesterday’s setback, with its price back below $1,300.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) was back in the red on Wednesday, as markets reacted to comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
In a speech on Tuesday night, Powell stated that more regulation is needed in the crypto market, with recent price declines highlighting “structural issues”.
In his comments, Powell said of the current relationship between defi and traditional finance: “Ultimately, it’s not a stable equilibrium and we have to be very careful about … how crypto activities are taken within the regulatory perimeter.”
Following the remarks, BTC/USD fell to an intraday low of $18,553.30 earlier in the session, less than a day after hitting a high of $20,338.46.
As a result of today’s selling, bitcoin moved closer to its key support point at $18,300. However, bulls have reacted, pushing the price away from this level.
Currently, BTC is trading at $18,976.35, as traders appear to have closed out previous shorts, giving way to some bullish sentiment.
Ethereum
Bitcoin wasn’t the only symbol affected by Powell’s comments, with ethereum (ETH) also trading lower in today’s session.
The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency fell to an intraday low of $1,267.87 on Wednesday, hitting a one-week low in the process.
After a series of bearish sessions over the past fortnight, ETH/USD has recently moved into consolidation territory.
As seen in the chart, this has been between a support point of $1,230 and a resistance level of $1,300.
This sideways action appears to have helped dampen a high level of bearish momentum, where the 10-day (red) moving average appears to have found a bottom.
Should this be the case, it is likely that we will see further consolidation in the coming weeks, with the potential for a rally at some point in October.
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