Bitcoin is poised to fall below $70,000 on Thursday, with no signs of the world's largest cryptocurrency's slide abating.
Bitcoin fell more than 3% in Asian trading to $70,052.38, its lowest level since November 2024.
Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, also fell by about 2% to $2,086.11, and a drop below $2,000 would be its first since May of last year.
The latest decline in cryptocurrencies came quickly and strongly, and analysts say it resulted from the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve (the US central bank), due to expectations that he would adopt a policy of monetary tightening.
Bitcoin has already fallen by more than 7% during the week, bringing its losses since the beginning of this year to about 20%, while Ether has fallen by nearly 30% so far.
Manuel Villegas Franceschi of Julius Baer's Next Generation Research team said: The market fears that Warsh will adopt a hawkish approach. A shrinking balance sheet will not provide any support for cryptocurrencies.
Digital currencies are widely seen as beneficiaries of the US central bank’s large balance sheet, as they tend to rise when the latter injects liquidity into the money markets, which boosts assets of a speculative nature.
