What happened
The cryptocurrency market started dropping on Friday but the sell-off hit a peak early on Saturday as investors try to digest a number of macro news items that could impact all markets around the world. The most pressing concern is rising tension between Russia and Ukraine and the Federal Reserve potentially calling an emergency meeting for Monday.
![Dogecoin [DOGE] to rise beyond 40%? Whale activity may spur rally](https://crypto.newswireservice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/doge-wale-1000x600-120x86.jpg)
As of 1:40 p.m. ET, Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) was down 1.1% in the last 24 hours but had fallen as much as 3.4% earlier in the day. Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) was down 3.5% but fell as much as 6.7% in 24 hours, with a 13% gap from its Thursday peak to its Saturday low. Dogecoin (CRYPTO:DOGE) is down 3.4% in the last 24 hours, but like Ethereum was down 17% from its peak earlier in the week to the lows of this morning.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
The biggest concern for crypto investors and the stock market late on Friday was increasing tensions between Russia, Ukraine, and U.S. President Biden urged Americans to leave Ukraine immediately, saying that an invasion could happen at any time. Russia has been placing troops near the border and the concern is that an invitation will lead to a broader conflict with the U.S. and Europe. Any uncertainty around the situation will cause investors to sell risky assets, like cryptocurrencies and stocks, which is a big reason the market is down right now.
On the policy front, the Federal Reserve has an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss interest rates following a 40-year high inflation rate of 7.5% reported last week. Based on the market’s reaction, investors are expecting a short-term rate hike as early as Monday in order contain inflation. Higher rates would make lower-risk assets like bonds more attractive for investors, potentially pushing money out of higher-risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
Higher rates certainly aren’t a surprise in 2022, but investors may have thought increases were coming later in the…
![Dogecoin [DOGE] to rise beyond 40%? Whale activity may spur rally](https://crypto.newswireservice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/doge-wale-1000x600-350x250.jpg)
