Investing.com– Bitcoin fell on Wednesday, extending losses from this week, as delicate risk appetite – amid uncertainty about the U.S. political outlook – kept investors wary of the cryptocurrency.
The launch of Ether-tracking ETFs also failed to improve sentiment towards the sector; prices fell on Tuesday and traded sideways on Wednesday.
fell 1.7% in the past 24 hours to $65,793.50 by 01:56 ET (05:56 GMT). The token had rebounded to $69,000 over the weekend but was now steadily changing course.
Bitcoin grapples with political uncertainty and delicate risk appetite
Bitcoin has come under pressure due to growing uncertainty surrounding the US presidential race, especially after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris has been rapidly gaining support among Democrats and is now widely expected to be the party’s presidential nominee.
This prepares her for a showdown with Republican candidate Donald Trump, who was ahead of both Biden and Harris in polls before Harris endorsed her.
Anticipation of a Trump presidency has fueled some gains in cryptocurrencies, especially given that he has maintained a positive stance on cryptocurrencies in recent campaign activities. Trump is also scheduled to speak at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville this Saturday.
Still, Harris has overtaken Trump, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted just after Biden endorsed her.
Ether spot ETFs see high volume but little price action
Six ETFs directly linked to the price of Ethereum began trading on US markets on Tuesday, attracting trading volume of over $1 billion on their first day of trading.
But they represented only a fraction of the $4.6 billion traded when spot bitcoin ETFs debuted earlier this year.
Ether price also fell on Tuesday and was trading at around $3,440.97 on Wednesday.
The introduction of spot Ether ETFs is expected to attract more institutional investors to cryptocurrencies, but it is still unclear how much demand there actually is for the product.
Trading volume in Bitcoin ETFs has also declined significantly since their debut earlier this year.
Cryptocurrency Price Today: Altcoins Are Down to Earth
In the broader cryptocurrency market, major altcoins saw narrow moves on Wednesday as sentiment towards risk-on assets remained generally delicate.
and moved in a narrow range, losing 2.6%.
Meme tokens saw a decline of 1.9%, while their value fell by 0.7%.