ANKARA

Bitcoin tumbled another 7% Monday with worries that the Federal Reserve is widely expected to signal a rate hike and accelerate tapering, which continue to spook cryptocurrency investors. 

Bitcoin was trading around $46,500 at 4.30 p.m. EDT on Monday, down 7.5% for the day.

Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin, was trading at $3,740 for a 9.8% loss, while some altcoins were down as much as 16% at the time.

The crypto market's total value stood around $2.12 trillion at the time, according to data by digital asset price-tracking website CoinMarketCap.

The total value of the crypto market fell around $200 billion in the last 24 hours, the data showed.

The latest decline came after the crypto market saw a $520 billion loss on Dec. 4 in a matter of hours.

The uncertainty in the cryptos continues due to investors' fear of a shift in the Fed's monetary policies.

The Fed is expected to signal at least one rate hike for 2022 and increase the pace of tapering at the conclusion of its two-day meeting Wednesday.

This would mean less liquidity for the markets and lower inflow into risky assets in the coming months.