On Wednesday, Ethereum fell as much as 7% as part of a larger crypto market sell-off as traders navigated a hazy environment. Bitcoin also dropped about 3% in less than 30 minutes last morning. Altcoins also suffered, with Solana and Polygon falling 8% and 5%, respectively.

While it’s unclear what caused prices to drop, markets are sensitive to signs of central bank tightening. The Fed has been raising rates for more than a year in response to decades of high inflation and is widely expected to raise rates by 25 basis points next month.

Consumer price index data from the United Kingdom showed that inflation continues above 10%, implying that the Bank of England may need to hike interest rates further. This indicates that inflation has not yet returned to pre-Covid levels and that the desired reduction has not yet occurred.

While other analysts believe recent inflation statistics had little impact on the market slump. Instead, it was a major crypto holder, dubbed a “whale,” unloading a significant stake on an exchange.

The activation of ETH unstacking on Binance is responsible for the price drop in ETH. They can now sell their earnings after years of waiting, which adds to the price reduction.

With its highly anticipated Shanghai upgrade, popularly known as “Shapella,” Ethereum hit an 11-month high last week. In other news, bitcoin set a 10-month high and has risen 39% in the previous three months.