The price of bitcoin dipped below $20,000 over the weekend, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned on Friday that interest rates will keep rising.
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
fell roughly 8% after Powell’s comments Friday at Jackson Hole, Wyo., slipping at one point Sunday to $19,544, according to CoinDesk data. As of Sunday evening, bitcoin was slumping well below the $20,000 level after teasing that level since Saturday.
In Friday’s speech, Powell said the Fed will continue to rates rates until inflation is brought in check, and that will likely “bring some pain to households and businesses.” The Fed has an “overarching focus right now to bring inflation back down to our 2% goal,” he said.
The stock market also sank Friday after Powell’s remarks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
plunging more than 1,000 points, or 3%, lower. The S&P 500
SPX,
and Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
also tumbled more than 3%.
Bitcoin had not fallen below $20,000 in about a month, and had climbed as high as $25,199 on Aug. 15. Cryptocurrency prices have plunged this year, as the Fed has steadily raised interest rates. Bitcoin is down 57% year to date.
Ethereum
ETHUSD,
which is nearing a highly anticipated update dubbed “The Merge” in early September, fell about 9% following Powell’s remarks, and is down 60% year to date. It was recently trading at $1,472, according to Kraken data.