Since the beginning of the new year, the cryptocurrency market has been showing steady weakening amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve System will soon begin to tighten monetary policy. The bitcoin exchange rate has decreased by 9.3% since the beginning of the year, and the Ether exchange rate, the second largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, by 14.5%. The current BTC quote is $43,308.60, and the Ether quote is $3,253.92. The Fed is expected to raise the base interest rate in March and raise it at least three times in 2022. Some experts suggest that the rate increase in March may amount to more than 25 basis points. However, these are only assumptions, but market participants are waiting for «hawkish» comments from the Central Bank's leaders at the Fed meeting on January 25-26. At the same time, the dynamics of bitcoin is likely to remain volatile as a result of «hawkish» rhetoric, as analysts note. The negative dynamics of cryptocurrencies also affected the shares of companies related to the industry. For example, the price of Coinbase Global Inc. securities has dropped by 13% since the beginning of the year, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. – by 24.4%, Riot Blockchain Inc. – by 21.7%.
