The price of cryptocurrency continued to drop overnight, with Bitcoin settling in at around $41,900 early Monday morning.
Bitcoin rivals Ethereum and Dogecoin were trading at $3,146 and 15 cents, respectively, Coinbase reported.
Sunday night, Bloomberg reported the Federal Reserve expects at least four rate hikes during 2022 – up from the three rate hikes predicted earlier.
In addition, Friday’s U.S. labor market report revealed the unemployment rate dipped to 3.9%, Coinbase reported, and has strengthened the case for the Fed to hike rates concurrently with the end of asset purchases in March.
Fears of a hawkish Fed rattled the bitcoin market toward the end of last quarter after the central bank shifted its focus to inflation control from maximum employment. In December, the Fed announced at least three rate hikes by the end of 2022 and an end of the asset purchase program by March.
Bitcoin topped out near $69,000 on Nov. 10 and has declined nearly 40% since. The cryptocurrency slipped over 12% in the last seven days to Jan. 9, registering its biggest weekly drop since early December, Coinbase reported.