Bitcoin price today: drops to $67k on inflation fears, Ether rally cools By Investing.com

Investing.com– Bitcoin price fell slightly on Tuesday, while a rally in no.2 token Ether also cooled as anticipation of key inflation readings this week kept traders largely risk averse, especially towards crypto.

Hype over the approval of an exchange-traded fund that directly tracks Ether also took a back seat, especially as the Securities and Exchange Commission now has to engage with fund managers over their applications to list such a potential product. 

The SEC had last week approved applications from major exchanges to list a spot Ether ETF, which triggered a sharp rally in the token and broader crypto markets.

fell 1.3% in the past 24 hours to $67,901.9 by 01:15 ET (05:15 GMT). sank 2% to $3,844.48, also retreating from two-month highs hit over the weekend.

Rate fears mount ahead of inflation data 

Fears of high-for-longer U.S. interest rates remained squarely in focus, especially ahead of key data due later this week.

The reading is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, and is likely to factor into the central bank’s outlook on rates.

Sentiment towards crypto and other risk-driven assets was battered by growing fears that the Fed will keep rates high for longer, especially after a string of officials warned that sticky inflation will delay any monetary easing. 

This notion also kept Bitcoin trading comfortably within a trading range established over nearly three months, and also limited bigger gains in Ether.

High rates bode poorly for speculative assets such as crypto, given that they limit liquidity that can be invested in the space, and also push up the attractiveness of conventional, low-risk investments such as the dollar and Treasuries. 

Crypto prices took little advantage of a mild drop in the on Monday. 

Before the PCE data, inflation readings from , and are also due this week. 

Crypto price today: altcoins, memecoins subdued 

Broader crypto prices saw little action, as trading volumes were also subdued on account of market holidays in the U.S. and the UK.

Altcoins and rose less than 1% each, while meme tokens and traded in a flat-to-low range.