Major cryptocurrencies plunged Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s December meeting showed some officials had extensive discussions of how to more quickly move away from its current easy-monetary stance by hiking rates and shrinking its $8.67 trillion balance sheet.
Bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.29% declined more than $2,500 after the minutes were released at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. That added to the cryptocurrency’s roughly 6% decline over the past 24 hours, recently trading at around $43,466, according to CoinDesk.
Ether ETHUSD, -0.12% declined 7.5% over the past 24 hours, recently trading at around $3,526.
Most major cryptocurrencies have been retreating. Solana SOLUSD, +1.25% traded 9.3% lower from 24 hours ago at around $153. Terra went down 8.6% to about $77. Polygon MATICUSD, +0.21% posted a 9.5% loss at around $2.2. Meme coin Dogecoin DOGEUSD, -0.02 lost 7.2%, trading at around $0.16. Another dog-themed token Shiba Inu SHIBUSD, 0.46 traded 8% lower at about $0.00003.
Despite a popular narrative among bitcoin supporters that the cryptocurrency could be used as a hedge against inflation, bitcoin recently has been trading in tandem with stocks and other risky assets.
U.S. stocks finished sharply lower Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.07% declined 392.54 points, or 1.1%, to end at 36,407.11, its worst daily percentage drop since Dec. 20, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 SPX, -1.94% fell 92.96 points, or 1.9%, finishing at 4,700.58, its steepest daily percentage fall since Nov. 26. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -3.34% 522.54 points, lost 3.34%, closing at 15,100.17, its sharpest daily percentage slump since Feb. 25, 2021.
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