As the Fed hikes rates by 75 basis points, Bitcoin and Ether drop alongside the top 10 cryptocurrencies

All of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, including bitcoin and ether, experienced declines in Thursday morning trade as a result of the U.S. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced its fourth straight rate increase of 75 basis points. 

The most notable losses were experienced by the top memecoins Dogecoin and Shiba Inu token after many days of large gains following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media network Twitter Inc.

In the 24 hours, Bitcoin decreased 1.5% to US$20,147. Ether decreased 3.8% to US$1,517, according to statistics from CoinMarketCap. Significant losses were experienced by Solana, which dropped 4.8% to US$30.71, and Cardano, which fell 4% to US$0.38.

Dogecoin dropped 9.4% to US$0.12, but it was still trading up over 70% in the previous week. Shiba Inu token dropped 7.8% to US$0.00001176, but it was still trading up 8.8% over the previous seven days. Elon Musk has tweeted images of shiba inu dogs, the breed on which the Doge meme is based, and has floated the notion of adding Dogecoin as a payment option on the site since owning Twitter.

Outside of CoinMarketCap’s list, Litecoin increased 10.1% to trade at US$60.52 after overnight hitting a six-week high of US$62.12. This comes after MoneyGram International, Inc., a provider of payment services, declared it will incorporate trading in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin on its app.

U.S. stock markets ended down on Wednesday. The S&P 500 Index finished 2.5% lower, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3.4%.

At its November meeting on Wednesday, the Fed decided unanimously to increase its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points, bringing the overall rate to a 15-year high of between 3.75% and 4%. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said it was “extremely premature to talk about a pause” in interest rate increases during the press conference announcing the increase, but he appeared to imply a slowing from the current pace could be in store in the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meetings.

As inflation climbed to an almost 40-year high of 8.2% in September, the Fed increased interest rates from near zero in March to the present level of 3.25%. The Fed has stated that it will maintain this strategy until inflation reaches its 2% target range.