Cryptocurrencies' rally cools as Ethereum upgrade optimism loses steam

Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co, said that the pullback was natural, as investors took 'some chips off the table'

Cryptocurrencies were mostly little changed as the recent rally in market bellwethers Bitcoin and Ether cooled.
 

Bitcoin was down less than 1% to about $24,250 as of 12:17 p.m. in New York, after reaching $25,000 over the weekend for the first time since the boarder market crashed in June. The largest cryptocurrency by market value is up about 18% since June 17. Bitcoin hit a record of almost $69,000 in the fall.
 

Ether, which the led gains amid optimism over the blockchain software update know as the Merge, was down about 1% to $1,919. It touched $2,000 on Saturday and