Cryptos fall; Bitcoin barely moves and looks ahead to Fed meeting

Cryptos fall. Bitcoin (BTC) drops 0.3% to around $29,800, while Ethereum (ETH) trades practically flat at $1,870.

The reigning cryptocurrency continues to show signs of weakness following Ripple's partial victory before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and awaits more news on the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) proposed by BlackRock and other traditional finance giants. It should be noted that last week, the Commission received some of these applications, although the review process is expected to extend beyond the end of the summer.

Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets, stated that Bitcoin "continues to struggle to move higher despite some decent dollar weakness." According to the strategist, the bulls are worried about where the reigning cryptocurrency is headed.

"The softness in the price action is making many wonder if there is actually that massive demand, which many thought there was. Having said this, we continue to remain bullish in terms of the price action as Bitcoin represents an alternative form of investing that will only become popular with time," he added.

For his part, Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, stressed that BTC is still anchored around $30,000 and that it will have a hard time moving out of this range without some prominent momentum. However, the expert believes that the Ripple ruling "is potentially paving the way for the House Republicans’ bill for a US crypto market overhaul."

"The Bitcoin consolidation seems like it isn’t going away just yet but it could if the House’s bill advances or if the Fed delivers a hawkish surprise," he added.

It should be noted that on Wednesday the Fed will meet again, for the last time until September, and the consensus takes two things for granted: that interest rates will rise by 25 basis points and that there will be no further hikes for the remainder of the year. However, numerous U.S. central bank officials have already warned investors that they would be wrong to trust that this looser scenario is set in stone.

"The language used by them in their meeting will set the tone for the dollar index," commented Aslam, who believes "this will be the last interest rate hike by the Fed for this year." "However, there are speculations that price in at least one more rate hike after this week as the path to the Fed reaching its inflation target continues to remain quite difficult," he warned.

On the other hand, Joe DiPasquale, CEO of BitBull Capital, pointed out that this scenario is not too positive for any particular investor. "Bulls may want to be cautious since drops are not out of the question. Bears will need to be extra cautious, since their downside risk, at this point, is far greater than any potential gain projections,” he noted.

In other market news, there have been declines in most altcoins except for Dogecoin (DOGE), which rises 2%. Ripple (XRP), after its upward climb in the last week and a half, falls 2% in the session.