Cryptocurrencies edged lower on Thursday, in line with broader stock markets , as the Federal Reserve turned more hawkish and a bigger drop in retail sales stoked fears of a recession next year. The Fed raised its benchmark rate by 50 bps to 4.25%-4.50% on Wednesday and Fed Chair Jerome Powell said bringing inflation down to 2% "will likely require a restrictive stance for some time". The hawkish tone was also echoed by the Bank of England, which boosted its benchmark rate to 3.5% , and the European Central Bank, which hiked rates to 2.5% . "Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) is softening as risk aversion hits Wall Street after major central banks signal that more work needs to be done to combat inflation," said OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya. The top crypto ( BTC-USD ) fell 2.3% to $17.45K as of 3.25 pm ET, while ether ( ETH-USD ) was down dropped 2.9% to $1.28K. "Bitcoin's ( BTC-USD ) weakness is somewhat limited and won't draw much attention unless price action dips below the $16.8K level," Moya added. The global crypto market cap stood at $850.72B, down 2.19% over the previous day, according to CoinMarketCap . Meanwhile, confidence in the crypto industry has faltered since the FTX implosion , but experts believe all is not lost yet. High-profile investor Michael Novogratz defended the sector and said not all exchanges are managed the way FTX ( FTT-USD ) was governed . Venture capitalist David Rubenstein acknowledged that big-name investors failed to conduct sufficient due diligence on FTX, but said those mistakes wouldn't doom the entire industry . On the other hand, SA contributor Anna Sokolidou advised conservative investors to stay away from bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) even if it falls further in 2023 as she believes it has "no intrinsic value". Crypto-related stocks that traded in the red include: Marathon Digital ( MARA ) -7% , MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) -6.8% , Coinbase Global ( COIN ) -5.5% , Robinhood Markets ( HOOD ) -3.3% , and Riot Blockchain ( RIOT ) -2.4% .
