Crypto markets were trading in the red on Wednesday following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, increasing the chance of a return to larger rate rises to combat inflation.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, declined 2.08% to $21,998, whilst Ethereum, the second largest, fell under the $1,600 mark. Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin volume stood around $24.12 billion, a 53.88% increase in 24 hours, Economic Times reports.

“Over the last 24 hours, many cryptocurrencies experienced a decline after Fed Chair Jerome Powell made hawkish statements about interest rate hikes. If BTC dips below the current level, the next level would be at the $19,000 level,” said Edul Patel, co-founder and CEO at Mudrex.

“Similarly, Ethereum is trading in tandem with BTC and is currently in the red zone. ETH is currently trading at $1,555, and its next support level is $1,450. Given the hawkish comments and uncertainties surrounding Silvergate Bank, traders, and investors may need time to analyse and understand the situation,” Edul went on to add.

In addition, other top crypto tokens declined following the Fed Chair’s comments. Solana fell by 5.4%, whilst Dogecoin, Litecoin, Cardano and Polkadot were also all trading lower. 

The global cryptocurrency market cap declined 1.96% in the last 24 hours to $1.01 trillion.

Furthermore, in regard to DeFi (decentralised finance), the total volume is currently at $3.78 billion, totalling 8.20% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. Whereas the volume of all stablecoins now stands at $42.58 billion, making up 92.36% of the total crypto market 24-hour volume.

In relation to Bitcoin, the market cap was around $425.02 billion. The dominance of the world’s largest cryptocurrency is 42.17% at the time of writing, a fall of 0.07% on the day, according to data from CoinMarketCap.