A combination of rising US bond yields, concerns about what hotter-than-expected UK inflation might mean for the US inflation outlook and an aggressive liquidation of long positions has seen the price of Ether (ETH) drop sharply on Wednesday.
But price predictions still remain upbeat.
The token, which powers the smart-contract-enabled Ethereum blockchain and is the second most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin, was last trading just to the south of the $2,000 level, down around 6.0% on the day, as per TradingView.
That means ETH is down around 7.5% versus the multi-month highs it hit in the mid-$2,100s last week.
The drop on Wednesday has triggered a sharp spike in liquidations of leverage long ETH futures positions, as per data presented by crypto derivatives analytics website coinglass.
Long positions worth close to $45 million have been wiped out so far this Wednesday, the highest since the 8th of March.
Some cited analysts cited uncertainty about the outlook for regulation in the US as also weighing on the ETH price.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, whose agency has been pushing for more oversight over crypto markets and cracking down on crypto firms operating in the US in recent months, appeared before Congress on Tuesday.
Congressman Patrick McHenry, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, pressed Gensler to be specific about whether he views ETH as a security or not.
Despite the SEC having already taken out enforcement action against US-based crypto firms based on the view that it is a security, Gensler avoided the question and refused to give a definitive answer about ETH.
But in the past, Gensler is on record as having said he does view ETH as a security.
Some have suggested Gensler’s
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