The basis for the sharpness in the decline is not clear, although the decline concurred with a Wall Street Journal report increasing recent anxiety from investors around Binance

Bitcoin dropped sharply and swiftly to begin the week as investors awaited a vital Federal Reserve policy decision and digested concerns around Binance.

Bitcoin was more than 3% lower at $29,121.60, as per Coin Metrics. Earlier, it dipped to $28,995.02, its lowest level in over a month.

The basis for the sharpness in the decline is not clear, although the decline concurred with a Wall Street Journal report increasing recent anxiety from investors around Binance. Particularly, Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao reportedly proposed in private discussion in 2019 that Binance affiliates had accounted for a part of trading volume around the time it launched its U.S. trading arm. There are questions about whether this activity was “wash trading” aimed at boosting volume.

Binance is the world’s biggest crypto exchange. It was sued by the US SEC in June and is at the centre of a DoJ probe that is likely to conclude with a consent decree or settlement, CNBC earlier reported. Federal prosecutors have been considering money laundering and sanctions evasion charges, allegations that would make it hard for Binance or its founder Zhao to continue to get licenses to operate.

Not everyone is convinced the big move could be put on the Binance story, though.

You could probably put it down to technicals or flows, said Callie Cox, analyst at eToro. $30,000 is a big deal, and it makes sense that bitcoin investors are feeling more edgy around these levels. Recoveries are not always a straight line up.

Elsewhere, investors are also watching what the Fed does at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.

Bitcoin is still wavering within a narrow range for a little over a week, and it will likely continue to do so until the end of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting, said Yuya Hasegawa, crypto market analyst at Bitbank. The market has almost fully priced in another 25 bps rate hike by the Federal Reserve this week and is paying close attention to whether they are going to carry out another by the end of this year as FOMC’s earlier economic outlook indicated.