Ether hits two-month low under $1.4k as coinbase premium index dwindles

Ether (ETH), the native token of Ethereum's blockchain, slipped to a two-month early Friday as regulatory uncertainty and problems at a key lender for tech firms, zapped investors' risk appetite.

Per one observer, the selling pressure for ether came mainly from the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN). The native token of Ethereum's blockchain fell to $1,392, the lowest since Jan. 12, amounting to a 24-hour decline of more than 8%, CoinDesk data show.

Data tracked by South Korea-based CryptoQuant show ether's Coinbase premium index, which measures the gap between ETH's dollar-denominated price on Coinbase and ETH's tether-denominated price on Binance, slipped to the lowest since Jan. 18.

"Coinbase led the selling pressure," CryptoQuant tweeted, referring to the decline in the Coinbase premium.

The New York Attorney General's decision to refer to ether as security in its lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin likely catalyzed the selling. If ether is deemed as a security and not a commodity, then the Securities and Exchange Commission may subject ether investors to stringent requirements regarding registration, disclosure and accreditation.

SVB's fire sale of its bond holdings and resulting fears of full-blown liquidity crisis in the banking sector likely added to bearish pressures around Ether.