Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies trade flat to the downside
- Crypto market expects to hear ECB’s decision today whether to create a digital euro
Cryptos Drop Again
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies slid during the early hours of Wednesday’s trading action. The flagship token continued its decline for a third straight day on the lack of fresh news that could boost the sentiment. Bitcoin reached an intraday low of $31,600 today and is currently hovering right under the $32,000 mark.
This week has been increasingly negative for the leading digital asset as its price has been tumbling since Monday. Bitcoin kicked off the week trading at $33,800 but crypto supporters were unable to maintain mild weekend gains. The weak trading momentum has led to a relatively moderate depreciation of 5.5% Monday-to-date.
In a similar fashion, ether is also trading in the red for the week. The Ethereum token has declined 10.80% since Monday and is currently floating near $1,900 per token.
Despite the recent fall, both bitcoin and ether are trading in positive territory for the year, up 10%, and 165%, respectively.
ECB Moves to Decide on a Digital Euro
Amid the period of flat trading today, European Central Bank officials are set to meet later in the day to decide whether to press ahead with the creation of a digital euro. The ECB, led by President Christine Lagarde, has been monitoring the developments in the crypto ecosystem and has expressed the desire to pursue its own venture in crypto land, a digital euro.
Today’s ECB decision on a central bank digital currency (CBDC), if affirmative, would mark the start of a two-year exploratory phase that will aim to make sure Europeans would be holding virtual euros by 2025.
“What we’ve heard from the people is that they want privacy to be protected,” Ms. Lagarde said on the topic on Sunday. “But at the same time, we need to make sure that it’s not accelerating money laundering or the financing of terrorism, so on each and every aspect we have to strike the right balance,” she concluded.
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