The two-largest coins traded in the red Monday evening as the global cryptocurrency market cap fell 1.1% to $930.7 billion over 24 hours at 9:18 p.m. EDT.
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Why It Matters: Bitcoin and Ethereum were in the red even as stocks ended higher for the day on Monday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed 1.2% and 0.9% higher, respectively. At the time of writing, U.S. stock futures were flat.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for “beefed up” enforcement on cryptocurrencies but said the digital assets don’t pose a significant threat to financial stability, reported The Block.
“Cryptos traded mixed as Bitcoin softened towards the $19,000 level, while Ethereum gained more buzz as their supply seems to finally be decreasing since the Merge,” said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst with OANDA.
“Bitcoin remains stuck around the $19,000 level and that will probably remain the case until we get beyond next week’s FOMC policy meeting.”
The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet beginning next Tuesday.
Cryptocurrency trader Justin Bennett said that Ethereum is outperforming Bitcoin so far this week.
“If $1,336 can hold, we might finally see that leg up to $1,420 to take out recent highs and test the August and mid-September lows.”
#Crypto still looks sluggish compared to #stocks, but $ETH is outperforming $BTC so far this week.
If $1,336 can hold, we might finally see that leg up to $1,420 to take out recent highs and test the August and mid-September lows.#Ethereum pic.twitter.com/VPywYfqZV2
Ethereum has gained 0.4% so far this week, while Bitcoin is down 1.3% in the same period, at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Michaël van de Poppe continues to be optimistic on the apex coin. He tweeted Monday that Bitcoin “will break out significantly.” The cryptocurrency trader said his take is “upside” and guessed that the cryptocurrency is headed “probably” for the $30,000 mark.
Within 2-3 weeks, #Bitcoin will break out significantly.
My take is the upside.
My guess is probably $30K.
Glassnode pointed to Bitcoin’s hash rate on Monday and said it has reached an all-time low of $66,500 per Exahash.
“This means that [BTC] miners are earning the smallest reward relative to hashpower applied in history, and likely puts the industry under extreme income stress,” tweeted the on-chain analysis firm.
The #Bitcoin Hash Price has reached an all-time-low of $66,500 per Exahash.
This means that $BTC miners are earning the smallest reward relative to hashpower applied in history, and likely puts the industry under extreme income stress.
Live Chart: https://t.co/RQzSsh9FnF pic.twitter.com/ExfpR5sOOq
Read Next: Bitcoin Price: How 'Fishes' Are Fighting 'Whales' To Keep Apex Crypto Above $18,000
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