The Block: Crypto markets tread water ahead of Fed speech

Cryptocurrency prices were little change alongside other risk assets ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech this afternoon at the Economic Club of Washington.

Bitcoin was trading at $22,962 at 10:05 a.m. EST, up about 0.4% over the past day, according to TradingView data.

BTCUSD chart by TradingView

Ether rose 0.4%, up to $1,638. Binance's BNB gained 0.3%, Ripple's XRP lost 0.5%, and Solana's SOL traded flat.

Chair Powell's annual sit-down with Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein is "something the market is not pricing in fully," according to QCP Capital's market update, which said it it was impossible to tell if Powell's view of markets was hawkish or dovish at the FOMC press conference last week.

"Hopefully ... [the] interview will clear things up for everyone," QCP said. "Especially his view on financial conditions, and whether he thinks the rally has gotten out of hand."

Crypto stocks and structured products The Nasdaq traded down, with the 30-stock index down 0.4% and the S&amp;P 500 dropping 0.2%.

Coinbase shares shed 5.7% to trade around $70 by 10:05 a.m. EST, according to Nasdaq data.

Silvergate was down about 8% to just under $18.

Block fell about 0.8% to trade below $82, while MicroStrategy dropped over 1.6% to $277.

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