Crypto Market Struggles as Bitcoin and Ether Face Inflation and Interest Rate Concerns

Bitcoin and Ether prices fell by 3% and 5%, respectively, as investors weighed the possibility of persistent inflation and rising interest rates. The drop comes after Ether rallied 12% last week and pushed above $2,000 for the first time since August. Market participants had expected a pullback in crypto prices this week as investors moved attention away from Ethereum's latest technical upgrade and toward the potential that the Federal Reserve could push the economy into a recession with its rate hikes. The crypto market's liquidity remains low, which has hit Bitcoin and Ether particularly hard.