Bitcoin has dropped below $19,000, while Ether is leading losses in cryptocurrencies below $1,300

After shattering that support line overnight, Bitcoin slid down below US$19,000 in early Monday am trading in Asia, while Ethereum led the losses in the crypto top 10 by market capitalization, which were all trading lower.

According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin fell 3.4% in the last 24 hours to trade below $19k at 8 a.m. in Hong Kong, while Ether (ETH) fell 8.9% to below US$1,300, its lowest since July 18. Solana was also down 7.5% at US$31.14, while Cardano fell 7.8% to trade as US$0.44. Dogecoin, the world’s leading memecoin, was down 7.3% at US$0.057.

The original network from which ETH was forked, Ethereum Classic (ETC), was trading 14% lower at US$29.61. In the previous seven days, ETH has plummeted 24%, while ETC has plunged 22.8% in a sell-off following the long-awaited “Merge,” which took place last Thursday.

The two networks had achieved large price increases in the run-up to the event, but most of those gains have already vanished.

On Friday, US equities ended down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.5%, the S&P 500 Index sank 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.9%.

Investors are anticipating the United States Federal Reserve’s next meeting this week from September 20 to 21, where it is expected to hike interest rates by 75 basis points as part of its continuous drive to combat inflation.

CME Group market analysts forecast a roughly 40% possibility of a 100 basis-point raise immediately after higher-than-expected August inflation data was announced last week, but that likelihood has since been reduced to 18%.

In recent months, US Federal Reserve officials have reiterated their commitment to increase interest rates until inflation is under control.

However, the World Bank cautioned this week that the Fed’s efforts to combat inflation in this manner risk causing the global economy to enter a recession by 2023.