Bitcoin falls below $21,000, ether plunges more than 7%: Today in markets

The crypto market was in the red on Friday, in line with broader financial markets.  

Bitcoin is down over 4% in the past 24 hours, trading at $20,689 at the time of writing, Coinbase data show. Elsewhere, ether shed 7.8% in the same period to trade at $1,582.  

Ether had enjoyed several weeks of unbridled growth, rising 18% in a week, as traders bet on The Merge – the Ethereum Foundation confirmed the dates this week. However, it appears the Merge rally has dissipated for now, as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization dropped 14.5% in the past seven days.  

Friday’s market movement is broadly in line with wider financial markets, which appear to be reacting to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech today in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Crypto markets initially dipped during the speech before showing brief signs of stabilizing prior to a sell-off before lunch. 

Price stability is the responsibility of the Federal Reserve and serves as the bedrock of our economy. Without price stability, the economy does not work for anyone. 

As Powell spoke, and in the hours following, stocks sank lower, the yield curve inverted further and short-term yields rose. The Nasdaq 100 composite is down more than 2.5% so far on Friday, while the S&P 500 sank a little more than 2%, at the time of writing, according to data via TradingView. 

Bitcoin’s correlation with stocks has risen throughout the year, growing incrementally since the beginning of January as inflation soared around the globe and the Fed first started murmuring about rate hikes.