After gaining an impressive 25% in March, the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) price went the other direction in April.
Ethereum started the month worth US$3,282. By 30 April, it was trading for US$2,827, down 14%.
What impacted the Ethereum price in April?
The world's number two crypto was hit by the same headwinds that saw risk assets, like high growth tech shares, tumble in April.
Atop fears of slowing economic growth out of China, where authorities continue to lockdown millions of residents in efforts to eliminate COVID-19, crypto investors have been keeping a wary eye on the rate hike plans of global central banks.
Higher interest rates increase the cost of holding money. And with the US Federal Reserve and other leading central banks like the RBA poised for a series of rate increases, the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 14% last month. The same losses, you'll notice, posted by the Ethereum price.
And Ethereum was far from the only crypto that fell hard in April. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) lost 17% over the 30 days.
Some analysts are predicting a bounce for the Ethereum price as its blockchain moves from a proof-of-work protocol to a proof-of-stake protocol. A move that will greatly reduce costs and its staggering energy use and carbon emissions. But little fresh news about the so-called Merge hit the crypto markets in April.
Volatility continues
Demonstrating the continuing volatility among even the top cryptos, the Ethereum price reached lows of US$2,727 during April while peaking at US$3,574, according to data from CoinMarketCap. That's a range of some 31%.
At the current price of US$2,842, Ethereum is down 42% from its 16 November all-time highs. It now has a market cap of US$343.6 billion.
