Bitcoin Price Drops. New Crypto From ChatGPT Founder Fails to Lift Spirits.

Text size

The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was falling on Monday as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy decision this week. The global launch of a new cryptocurrency co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was doing little to lift spirits in the sector. 

Bitcoin
was down 0.7% at $29,726 over the preceding 24 hours early on Monday. The largest cryptocurrency has struggled to build on gains above $30,000 in recent months and the Fed’s decision and messaging looks to be keeping buyers on the sidelines for risk assets at the moment. 

“Bitcoin is still fluctuating within a narrow range… and it will likely continue to do so until the conclusion of this week’s FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] meeting,” said Yuya Hasegawa, an analyst at crypto exchange Bitbank.

Beyond Bitcoin, Ether —the second-largest crypto—fell 0.4% to $1,868. Smaller tokens, or altcoins, were also dropping, with Cardano down 0.7% and Polygon losing 1.9%. 

Another token joined the ranks on Monday as the founders of Worldcoin –a cryptocurrency project which aims to create a digital “proof of personhood” via eye-scanning technology in the face of the growth of artificial intelligence– said the project had launched. It is backed by Sam Altman, best known for leading ChatGPT-developer OpenAI.

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, said it would list the Worldcoin token. However, Worldcoin isn’t currently available in the U.S. due to regulatory uncertainty around the crypto sector.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com