Bitcoin Price Tanks by $3K in Hours Ahead of Jerome Powell’s Speech Today

The crypto market continues its Monday correction, as bitcoin slumped by another grand or so in the past hour, dropping to just over $63,000.

This comes just hours before the US Fed’s Chair, Jerome Powell, speaks in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is expected to elaborate on the central bank’s monetary policy pivot.

CryptoPotato reported earlier today about BTC’s initial price decline that had driven the asset from over $66,000 to $64,200. The situation has worsened since then as the asset tumbled to $63,250 – a four-day low – before recovering slightly to $63,500.

The difference now is that many of the altcoins have followed suit with similar declines. Among the biggest losers on a 24-hour scale are Shiba Inu (-6.3%) and Dogecoin (-5%).

Consequently, the total value of liquidated positions has risen to $190 million within the past day, according to CoinGlass data. Roughly 70,000 over-leveraged traders have been wrecked within the same timeframe.

The volatility is likely induced by the uncertainty regarding Powell’s upcoming speech. Reuters reported that he is expected to provide more information about the Fed’s monetary policy change from earlier this month when the central bank slashed the interest rates by 0.5% for the first time in over four years.

Experts anticipate Powell to hint at further rate reductions in the upcoming FOMC meeting in 2024 and even in 2025. The Fed is expected to introduce another rate reduction on November 6-7 by 0.25% or 0.5%.