By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) are down over 21% at the New York open after the cryptocurrency market fell to the lowest levels in over 18 months.
The total crypto market cap slipped below the $1 trillion mark on Monday, losing over $200 billion in market cap since Friday.
“Since Nov 2021, sentiment has changed drastically given the Fed rate hikes and inflation management. We’re also potentially looking at a recession given the FED may need to finally tackle the demand side to manage inflation,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC.
“All this points to the market not completely having bottomed and unless the Fed is able to take a breather, we’re probably not going to see bullishness return.”
Ayyar added that he sees “much lower bitcoin prices over the next month or two.”
The crypto environment has worsened after a major crypto lender, Celsius Network, froze withdrawals and transfers citing "extreme" conditions.
"As inflation proves to be an even trickier opponent to beat than expected, Bitcoin and Ether are continuing to get a severe bruising in the ring," Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, told Reuters.
"They are prime victims of the flight away from risky assets as investors fret about spiraling consumer prices around the world."
Bitcoin price is currently trading below $24,000 after printing the 18-month low at $23,333, according to Coinbase data.