Investing.com – Bitcoin’s price fell on Tuesday, while the rally in No. 2 token Ether also weakened as anticipation of key inflation readings this week kept investors highly risk-averse, particularly in cryptocurrencies.

The buzz surrounding the approval of an exchange-traded fund that directly tracks Ether has also taken a backseat, especially since the Securities and Exchange Commission must now engage with fund managers on their applications to list such a potential product on an exchange.

Last week, the SEC approved applications from major exchanges to list the spot Ether ETF, sparking a surge in the token and broader cryptocurrency markets.

fell 1.3% in the last 24 hours to $67,901.9 by 01:15 ET (05:15 GMT). fell 2% to $3,844.48, also retreating from two-month highs reached over the weekend.

Interest rate concerns grow ahead of inflation data

Concerns about long-term high interest rates in the US remained in the spotlight, especially ahead of key data that will be released at the end of the week.

The reading is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation and will likely be included in the central bank’s interest rate forecasts.

Sentiment towards cryptocurrencies and other risk-based assets has been dampened by growing concerns that the Fed will keep rates high for an extended period of time, especially after a number of officials warned that stiff inflation would delay any easing of monetary policy.

This concept also kept Bitcoin trading comfortable within the established range for almost three months and also capped higher gains on Ether.

High rates bode ill for speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies, given that they limit the liquidity that can be invested in this space, as well as increasing the attractiveness of conventional low-risk investments such as the dollar and Treasuries.

Cryptocurrency prices benefited slightly from a soft decline on Monday.

Before the PCE data this week, we will also see inflation readings from , and .

Cryptocurrency price today: altcoins, memecoins subdued

Broader cryptocurrency prices saw no action as trading volumes were also circumscribed due to holidays in the US and UK.

Altcoins and rose less than 1% each, while meme tokens and traded in a flat to low range.