\n<\/p>\n
The price of Bitcoin was $38,423 on Wednesday morning, following nearly a day of hovering around that level. It was a loss of 1.2 percent over the prior 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. The world\u2019s largest cryptocurrency has been looking for direction over the last few days, while the price of other major cryptocurrencies was mixed.<\/p>\n
The price of Ethereum was essentially flat, at $2,777, on Wednesday morning. The second-largest digital currency remains significantly below its all-time high of nearly $4,900 reached in early November. It\u2019s fallen 25 percent so far in 2022.<\/p>\n
Other top cryptocurrencies were largely higher, but most gains were modest:<\/p>\n
Cryptocurrency has struggled since it became clear last November that the Federal Reserve intended to reduce financial stimulus<\/a>. On Wednesday, India confirmed that it wasn\u2019t banning cryptocurrency but instead plans to tax capital gains on it at a hefty 30 percent rate<\/a>. The Indian government also announced that it was creating its own blockchain-based cryptocurrency, a \u201cdigital rupee.\u201d<\/p>\n Traders are also waiting to hear how the Biden administration will proceed with cryptocurrency regulation, following reports that it will file an executive order directing the federal government to set new policies on emerging digital currencies.<\/p>\n Bitcoin\u2019s<\/a> price has been under serious pressure since the Fed\u2019s early November 2021 meeting. The cryptocurrency topped out at nearly $69,000 in November.<\/p>\n From there, it\u2019s been mostly downhill. The downtrend continued through much of December and into January. After peaking above $51,000 in late December, the digital currency fell to nearly $33,000 in late January. Bitcoin remains down more than 17 percent since the start of the year.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Bitcoin remains atop the list of most valuable cryptocurrencies<\/a> by total market capitalization.<\/p>\n At its January meeting, the Fed announced that it was continuing to taper its purchases of bonds and expects to stop buying bonds by early March. The central bank also indicated that it was poised to increase rates <\/a>soon, signaling what many experts expect will be a rate hike as early as March.<\/p>\n \u201cWith inflation well above 2 percent and a strong labor market, the Committee expects it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate,\u201d said the Federal Open Market Committee in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n Now market analysts are expecting the Fed to increase interest rates at its upcoming March meeting. According to CME\u2019s FedWatch Tool<\/a>, the market is now pricing in a 100 percent probability that rates will rise in March. The only outstanding question is by how much. The market is expecting a 91 percent probability of a boost of 25 basis points, with the remainder projecting a larger 50-point hike.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we\u2019re on the cusp of the Fed beginning to raise interest rates, the more significant step of starting to run off the balance sheet is still to come and the Fed provided no additional details in their post-meeting statement,\u201d says Greg McBride, Bankrate\u2019s chief financial analyst. \u201cThe combination of rate hikes and eventually shrinking their asset portfolio will complete the transition from going full throttle to putting the brakes on the economy.\u201d<\/p>\nBitcoin stuck below $40,000<\/h2>\n
Fed signals rate increases on the way, bond buying to end<\/h2>\n