During Monday's trading, the bitcoin exchange rate dropped to $18,313 for the first time since the end of 2020. Pressure on the cryptocurrency is exerted by investors' withdrawal from risks before the meeting of the US Federal Reserve System scheduled for Wednesday. Most analysts expect that the US regulator will raise the base interest rate by 75 basis points for the third time in a row, or even by 100 bp at once. The current quote of the BTC/USD pair is $18,756.90. Since the beginning of this year, bitcoin has fallen in price by 60% and is currently trading at the level of December 2020. In the current conditions, risk appetite remains extremely weak, and the entire crypto market is showing a decline following the fall of stock markets. Additional pressure on the market is being exerted by signals that the administration of US President Joe Biden plans to tighten regulation of the cryptocurrency industry. It's not just bitcoin that is falling today. The cost of the second most popular cryptocurrency, Ethereum, is also declining and is at its lowest level since July. The current price of ether is $1,280. Last week, an update of the cryptocurrency software, called The Merge, was carried out on the Ethereum network. This update has transferred the ether blockchain to a new algorithm, which will dramatically reduce electricity consumption during mining.
